Ludhiana, March 28,2024 (News Team): Škoda Auto India has already ushered in the New Era with the announcement of the all-new compact SUV. Taking a stride further into the New Era with user engagement and involvement, the company has also announced ‘Name Your Škoda’, a campaign where participants contribute to what the name of Škoda’s all-new compact SUV will be.
Speaking at the announcement, Petr Janeba, Brand Director, Škoda Auto India, said: “India is driving growth for Škoda Auto globally. The key enablers of this so far have been the first products specifically developed for India – the Kushaq and the Slavia. These cars, apart from being built on an India-specific platform, have also been named keeping legacy, heritage and culture in mind. Kushaq, for instance, is from the Sanskrit word for an emperor. Slavia is the name of Škoda’s first ever product, a bicycle. The naming process of a car is important for us. With ‘Name Your Škoda’ we want to extend this tradition to our upcoming all-new SUV and want the people, customers and fans to be involved in the naming process of their new car. We look forward to people across India embracing our new family member, which is locally developed, locally engineered and locally manufactured.”
The initiative
‘Name Your Škoda’ is a campaign that enables the involvement and engagement of users, customers and the Fans of Škoda in picking the name for a car that will hit the roads in 2025. This is a step further in Škoda Auto India’s endeavour for listening to people, fans and customers.
An endeavour that began with the MQB-A0-IN platform – that is developed with a focus on safety (developed with a 5 star Global NCAP rating in mind), on reasonable cost of ownership (including insurance) while retaining the Škoda DNA of design, agility and dynamics --and Škoda Auto India’s customer touchpoint expansion to be closer and more accessible to customers.
The naming tradition
It is a tradition going back to the company’s first ever full-fledged 7-seater luxury 4x4, the Kodiaq, in 2017. The name reflects the qualities of both, the Kodiak bear and the Kodiak Archipelago to the south of Alaska, USA that it inhabits. The nomenclature is a reflection of the beauty, grandeur and toughness of both the bear and the terrain it calls home. The Škoda Kushaq takes this legacy forward and the all-new compact SUV, that will make its world debut in India in March 2025, will also follow Škoda’s SUV family naming tradition.
The next leg- Polling contest
Through ‘Name Your Škoda’, participants have suggested names for the compact SUV that begins with the letter ‘K’ and ends with the letter ‘Q’ with one or two syllables.The campaign resulted in over 1,30,000 names with close to 20,000 unique names.
In the next leg, participants can visit the campaign microsite, nameyourskoda.com and cast votes for the shortlisted names and also suggest new ones if not done already. Participants can also share their favourite name with #NameYourSkoda on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter) channels.
The winner of this naming contest stands the opportunity of owning this all-new Škoda compact SUV - being one of the first owners when it hits roads in the first half of 2025. Another 10 winners will get to visit Škoda Auto in Mlada Boleslav including the very impressive Škoda Museum, and also a tour of Prague, one of the most attractive cities in Europe.
The next leg of the campaign starts from March 28, 2024 and runs till April 12, 2024. The‘Name Your Škoda’ aims at inculcating a sense of pride and belonging among participants whenever they see this all-new SUV on the roads after its world debut in India.
The Jury
The jury for this campaign comprises of -
Martin Jahn - Member of the Board of Management for Sales & Marketing, Škoda Auto
Piyush Arora - Managing Director and CEO, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India
Jan Bures–Executive Director, Sales, Marketing and Digital, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India
Petr Janeba - Brand Director, Škoda Auto India
The car
The all-new compact SUV is Škoda Auto India’s first ever foray into the compact SUV segment. This SUV is based on the MQB-A0-IN platform, the same as the one of the Kushaq SUV and the Slavia sedan. The MQB-A0-IN was specifically developed for India by teams in India and the Czech Republic with an eye on versatility, safety, dynamics while focussing on localisation, low maintenance costs and a hassle-free ownership experience.
The Kushaq SUV debuted in India and the world in July 2021 and the Slavia sedan in March 2022. Since then, these two India-developed cars have taken Škoda Auto India to witness its biggest year in sales and take the shortest time to achieve the landmark of over 100,000 cars sold. The all-new compact SUV will be the third all-new, India-specific product developed by Škoda Auto India.