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Czech brand wants to expand its presence in the Australian market, both physically and in terms of sales.
Skoda boss Winfried Vahland says the company is seriously considering building a large SUV.
Speaking to Australian media at the international launch of the Citigo small car in Portugal overnight Vahland denied the project was already under development but hinted it was likely to be given the green light by the end of 2012.
"We have one under thinking," Vahland said.
Advertisement: Story continues below Quizzed on where it would sit in the line-up and against which cars it would compete, he said it would be bigger than both the Skoda Yeti and Volkswagen Tiguan, and possibly be available with a seven-seat option.
"Skoda's positioning is always between the segments," he said. "It would be bigger than Tiguan."
Vahland has set the goal of selling 1.5 million Skodas per year by 2018. Last year the Volkswagen-owned brand sold almost 900,000 new cars.
He said he would like to sell more than 10,000 cars in Australia in the near future and is confident the local operation can get there from last year's result of 3501.
"We are very serious about Australia," Vahland said.
He said Skoda planned to compete on quality and practicality, not just price, in its battle with the rest of the market and parent brand Volkswagen.
A key model is Skoda's growth is the new Rapid small car due in 2013, which is all-but-confirmed to carry that name; a revival of a Skoda from the 1940s.
Skoda boss Winfried Vahland says the company is seriously considering building a large SUV.
Speaking to Australian media at the international launch of the Citigo small car in Portugal overnight Vahland denied the project was already under development but hinted it was likely to be given the green light by the end of 2012.
"We have one under thinking," Vahland said.
Advertisement: Story continues below Quizzed on where it would sit in the line-up and against which cars it would compete, he said it would be bigger than both the Skoda Yeti and Volkswagen Tiguan, and possibly be available with a seven-seat option.
"Skoda's positioning is always between the segments," he said. "It would be bigger than Tiguan."
Vahland has set the goal of selling 1.5 million Skodas per year by 2018. Last year the Volkswagen-owned brand sold almost 900,000 new cars.
He said he would like to sell more than 10,000 cars in Australia in the near future and is confident the local operation can get there from last year's result of 3501.
"We are very serious about Australia," Vahland said.
He said Skoda planned to compete on quality and practicality, not just price, in its battle with the rest of the market and parent brand Volkswagen.
A key model is Skoda's growth is the new Rapid small car due in 2013, which is all-but-confirmed to carry that name; a revival of a Skoda from the 1940s.
So basically just a reshelled Touareg?
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