Skoda Rapid Price Review and Specifications

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The diwali season is about to witness a dhamaka of cars being launched in a span of few days. Leading the race will be one of the biggest auto makers, the Skoda which will launch its latest entrant the Rapid in the sedan market. The mid-sized sedan is expected to ruffle quite a few feathers with the likes of other contemporaries like the Maruti Swift SX4, Hyundai Fluidic Verna and the Volkswagen Vento.

Skoda Car Chairman, Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland made his presence felt to mark the beginning of the production of the vehicle, which began at the Volkswagens production plant at Chakan close to Pune.

From the first visual pics of the Skoda Rapid it can be seen that the sedan version with the Fabia like hatchback at the entrance portion resembles to that of the Fabia. Then at the rear the car includes a boot rather than a hatch, which could surely be of some great utility compared to the Vento. In fact you might feel like you are just moving within the same build platform similar to the Vento. The car can be expected to be a combo of all the attributes, exterior, inside, used in the Fabia & Vento.

Apart from the build inspiration from the Volkswagen, the heart of the car also seems to be a rip off from the former with the same 1.6 liter petrol & diesel engine and a 105 horsepower, along with a 5 speed manual transmission. The gasoline is expected to also come with an advanced multi point fuel injection engine system, while the diesel could be injected with a rail direct injection program. All these new developments looks like the Skoda is finally looking to have a strong over haul in the Indian auto market. In fact the presence of senior officials clearly reveal that the company is targeting on Indian cars or truck market to bring in the much needed sales in terms of volumes and in the process broaden its base & earning optimum gains. This could also stem from the fact that developed nations have already reached a stage of saturation while in developing nations there is more often the possibility of increasing demand due to rising economy.

Currently Skoda has a target of promoting 8 lakh cars as a global strategy for the next twelve months. This is a part of Skoda’s future plan of becoming the planet's largest automaker by 2018. Skoda is pretty upbeat about its future business in India as they believe that the audiences in India are receptive and happy about new car launches. If rumors are to be believed the company also has plans to launch a new car or truck in every 6 weeks.

The launch of the Rapid in the Indian auto sedan segment is expected to compete with the likes of Toyota's Etios, Maruti Swift Dzire, Hyundai Accent and M&M Verito. The main trump card for the company would be the diesel variant and off course the price range of this top quality sedan. The low price is truly expected to be less than the Vento, to entice the customers.