A Plus adds up for Skoda

Director of Skoda Australia, Michael Irmer, has confirmed that the company's new seven-seat SUV will go on sale in Australia less than two years from now.

"It is coming for sure, and we know it's going to be early 2017... a couple of months after the European launch we'll have it," he told motoring.com.au during the local launch of the Octavia Scout.

The large SUV, which apparently goes by the name of A Plus, is "definitely confirmed" for Australia, and Irmer anticipates it could be the model that really breaks through for Skoda.

"I would like to stay clear of making [sales] volume expectations, but we have good confidence [for] the model," Irmer said.

Skoda is one of the newest brands in Australia, having launched here as recently as 2007. Last year the Czech brand sold 3853 cars, less than 600 units behind Peugeot, which was established in Australia much earlier. Skoda also outsold Alfa Romeo, Citroen and MINI last year, yet the brand's status still hasn't reached the same standing as its obvious competitors from Asia – or parent company Volkswagen.

This is manifested in slower sales of the Rapid small car, which is relatively new to the market. According to Irmer, the Rapid is up against a tough selection of rivals in its market segment, but has met its sales targets to date.

"It's at expectation... we know it's a very busy segment – lots of offerings in that," he said. "To come up with a new car, it's going to take time. All our models took time to establish themselves in the market, so we have set realistic expectations.

"On top of that, there were a few other factors, which we knew already at the time of launch. We factored them into our planning as well, which is the absence of a navigation unit and a more modern infotainment [system], which we'll fix with a model upgrade later in the year, in quarter three..."

This will bring the VW Audi Group's latest navigation system technology to the Rapid, displayed through a new audio touch screen, Irmer says. At the same time, the sporty Rapid Monte Carlo will be introduced here.

The Style Pack "was more popular than we could supply," Irmer said. "We had some restrictions initially; now the restrictions are lifted [and] getting the supply is now good.

"The first couple of months that was a bit of an issue."

Skoda will bring the Fabia light car to Australia to bolster the lower end of its product range from July. Irmer says, and the company expects it to kick a few more goals than its predecessor.

"The second generation we expect to do better than the first, because the name starts to build awareness out there."

Irmer believes the new Fabia's sportier proportions will also help it win friends in Australia.

"The feedback from consumers over there [in Europe] is very positive. We expect we can bring this success over here as well."

With the Octavia Scout launched in Australia, the local Octavia range is now complete. Skoda's biggest selling model in Australia posted 1803 units sold in 2014 – a 45.8 per cent increase on the previous year's tally. That is almost certainly due to the introduction of the new model, which marks the first occasion Skoda has launched a new generation of car in Australia to succeed a model already on sale here.

The Octavia was actually the only pre-existing model in the Skoda range to post higher sales numbers in 2014 than in 2013. Across the brand, sales growth was 8.4 per cent up from 2013 to 2014, and for the first two months of this year sales have risen 53 per cent, year on year. Why the Octavia expanded its sales base when other models didn't could be attributed to the Octavia being a new product. And with Rapid still finding its feet, plus the new Fabia arriving in a few months – and Superb early next year – Irmer is confident the company's market share will continue to improve; he's just not saying by how much.

"I don't want to go public with volume predictions for the future... we've [had] a good start. These percentages are very high and this is unlikely to remain for the rest of the year, but we will expect to be up on last year – that's for sure."

Skoda will launch a new television commercial campaign in May, centred around the Octavia.

But it's likely to be the arrival of the A Plus in Australia that will have a seismic effect on Skoda's presence in the market.