The new ‘Eco Car’ platform will be used to build cars for cost-sensitive markets like India. The platform was mentioned prominently in Skoda’s 2017 Annual Report, which was recently released.
The new platform is a modified version of the company’s MQB A0 platform and will be called the ‘MQB A0 IN’. Skoda has said that the new platform will be tweaked for both local climatic conditions as well as local tastes and preferences. The text in the report mentions ‘temperature range of the air-conditioning system’ and ‘interior design’ as important. A lot of the content for the platform will be sourced locally and Skoda is already in talks with suppliers. VW will also look at using the platform. Skoda will most probably use VW’s Chakan plant, which it will use as the production base, for future high-volume models.
The plant will be tweaked to for a new production line for the MQB platform and its derivatives. The first model will be a rival to the Creta and will borrow design cues from the Vision X concept. The new SUV will be due in India sometime in 2021.