Skoda plans larger global role for India

Christian Schenk, Skoda Auto Board Member for Finance and IT, tells Murali Gopalan that the country is poised to contribute moreto global projects. As Chairman of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, he says there is more to follow beyond India 2.0 which has started off on a good note.

- Murali Gopalan

When Christian Schenk tells you that there V V dimensions you haven't thought of before", it is could be a crisis happening anytime "on the based on firsthand experience.

The Skoda Auto Board Member for Finance and IT was actually in Russia just a fortnight before it declared war on Ukraine and the world has been in a tizzy since then. During his visit, there were discussions with colleagues and nobody could have imagined what was due to follow.

"I remember telling my kids that they would not face situations like this in their generation." says Schenk. This time around, the war is actually happening closer home given the Czech Republic's proximity to Russia both in terms of geography and history.

Yet, he is stoic enough to add that one has to accept "the reality of what is happening worldwide". The world has been plunging into one crisis after another starting with the pandemic two years ago which still continues to have powerful nations like China on the back foot.

"When Covid broke out, my first reaction was that this is something extraordinary. This is the time you need to communicate a lot and get everyone on board. It is a new situation where you must listen, act and make decisions instead of just standing there too shocked and stunned to react," says Schenk.

The conversation is happening at a hotel in Mumbai's busy Juhu area characterised by heavy traffic and hordes of people thronging the beach. India has, like the rest of the world, faced the onslaught of the pandemic but life has to go on.

Schenk clearly subscribes to this thought process too since there have been other headwinds beyond Covid like the present war in Ukraine, the chip crisis and so on. "There will be uncertainty and changes happening all the time. The world will not be the same," he says.