Skoda bets on Scala and Kamiq to lift Singapore share

Singapore

THE car market took a pummelling in Singapore last year, but less so Skoda. The Czech brand did see its registrations here fall 22 per cent to 663 cars, but total industry sales tumbled a whopping 38.5 per cent.

That means Skoda's market share rose, climbing from 1.17 per cent to 1.49 per cent, its best result since re-entering Singapore in 2018. The figures bring some cheer to Ricky Tay, the managing director of Volkswagen Group Singapore, who led its relaunch here.

"We managed to tap the group of people that are upgrading from the cheaper brands to a Continental brand," Mr Tay says.

Some of the Czech brand's success is down to its ability to lean on Volkswagen's technology while charging less for it, giving upgraders something to reach for in terms of technology, without having to stretch financially. "So we've gone into the sweet spot, and it was the right action," Mr Tay says.

Mr Tay has two reasons to be bullish for 2021. This weekend Skoda is launching a pair of new models, and both trade on the smart styling, spaciousness and high feature count that have become the nameplate's hallmarks, and that have helped to turn it into one of the most profitable of Volkswagen Group's eight brands.

The Scala is a five-door, five-seat hatchback that Skoda says offers the most rear headroom in its class. It has an enormous boot and plenty of safety equipment, with a 150 horsepower, 1.5-litre engine that can switch off two of its cylinders to save fuel.

The most basic version costs S$115,900 (including Certificate Of Entitlement), with two other variants rising in price and the number of features they offer. A power-operated driver's seat, electric tailgate, virtual cockpit instruments and wireless phone charging pad are some of the available equipment still relatively rare in the Scala's segment.

One reason to expect the new hatchback to do well here is that it has sold strongly in Europe. Demand has so outstripped supply that Skoda could not deliver cars to Singapore until now.

"If you remember, the Scala was launched in the Singapore Motor Show over one year ago," Mr Tay says.

The other new Skoda is the Kamiq, a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with the same engine and a similar physical footprint, and the same choice of three trim levels with a varying array of features. Its price starts at S$119,900, making it the brand's most affordable SUV.

Such cars are on a hot streak, so the Kamiq could well turn out to be Skoda's big hit of 2021. While hatchbacks such as the Scala held onto their market share and accounted for slightly fewer than one in six cars registered in Singapore last year, SUVs more than doubled in popularity. In 2020 they accounted for out of every three new cars.

Mr Tay calls the Kamiq a "city SUV", because it has relatively sleek styling for the breed. "If you look at the SUV style say, five years ago, it was usually very boxy, very big," he says. The new Skoda's moderate dimensions mean it's easier to park and drive in the city, he points out.

"The Kamiq will be suitable for the younger generation that are considering their first car, and if they like to have an SUV, then this will be a nice car for them to drive," he says.

Adding the Scala and Kamiq takes Skoda's local range to six distinct models. The move is in line with an industry-wide trend that has seen carmakers try to boost sales by adding model lines.

Doing so allows car companies to cast their net wider. "We are not worried whether a person is comparing between the Scala and Kamiq, because I think a person who wants to buy a hatchback will not think about an SUV, or the person who wants to buy an SUV will not think about a hatchback," Mr Tay says. "So I don't think we're going to cannibalise ourselves."

Ultimately, car sales here are capped by the Quota System, which determines the number of COEs available.

That means if Skoda is to keep growing its market share, it has a clear mission for the Scala and Kamiq: they have to pummel other brands' cars.