The Skoda Kodiaq is the model best poised to launch Volkswagen’s Czech brand into the US market, according to the firm's CEO, Bernhard Maier.
The Skoda Kodiaq has been shown at the Paris motor show - get the full story here
Speaking to Autocar at the recent Kodiaq launch, Maier said he believed the brand's new SUV model would be a hit if sold in the US although he also explained that the US wasn’t on Skoda’s immediate radar.
“If we do decide to compete in the US, we will have one chance to make a good first impression,” he said. “We feel that if we were there now, the Kodiaq would be a home-run car.”
Maier said the three new markets that currently most interest Skoda are South Korea, Singapore and Iran but he added: “America is the one that we don't currently compete in with the biggest potential”.
Skoda is undertaking a feasibility study to determine whether a potential US entry would make sense. The company has also recently trademarked the names of several of its models with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Names trademarked by the brand in the US include Skoda Superb, Skoda Octavia, Skoda Yeti and vRS, as well as a yet-to-be-identified H-Tec model name.
No timescale has been set for Skoda to make a decision about the US but its all-new Kodiaq model will go on sale in European markets at the start of 2017.
Add your comment