Škoda's Next EV for India Won't Be the Epiq — Here's What's Coming Instead

Škoda Auto has ruled out its compact EV, the Epiq, as the vehicle that will lead its electric push in India, with global CEO Klaus Zellmer confirming that a larger, more India-specific model is already in development.

Speaking exclusively with ACKO Drive about the brand's electric vehicle roadmap, Zellmer acknowledged that the Epiq — which had a strong global premiere earlier this year — simply isn't the right fit for the Indian market's economics. "It's a wonderful car... but you need to find a sweet spot in the market that also gives you a profit pool that you can build a business sustainably, and that's not the Epiq," he said.

Instead, Zellmer confirmed the car being planned for India will be "slightly bigger," landing in the roughly 4.5-metre segment — a size bracket that aligns more closely with mainstream Indian buying patterns and offers better margins than a sub-compact EV. "This is what we're working on," he said, adding that Škoda's position within the larger Volkswagen Group gives it flexibility to "pick and choose" the right platform for the job.

Localisation is central to the plan. Zellmer stated that this upcoming EV will be built specifically for India and "fully localised," with as many components as possible sourced domestically. The one exception, he noted, is battery cells — a challenge he said applies to every manufacturer operating in India, not just Škoda. "The rest has to be totally localised and then built here in India for India," he said.

Zellmer also referenced the Škoda Peaq — a car he described enthusiastically, after driving it personally, as an example of the kind of "halo aspiration" model the brand wants to eventually bring to Indian buyers. While he stopped short of confirming a firm timeline, he was direct about the intent: "This is something that we're working on, and this is the clear plan."

On whether the India-built EV would eventually be exported, Zellmer was more guarded. "You don't know. We shall see," he said, explaining that designing a car to multiple regional specifications — India and Europe simultaneously — tends to inflate costs. "If we develop that car for India and we say at the same time it has to be developed for Europe, we would make it more expensive for India. This is a balancing act that we're currently trying to dance out."

The comments offer the clearest picture yet of Škoda's EV intentions for India: not a flagship import, and not the smallest global EV in its lineup, but a purpose-built, mid-size, heavily localised model designed to make electric vehicles commercially viable in a still-nascent EV market. With India's EV penetration expected to reach between 15–20 percent by the end of the decade, the timing of this model's arrival could prove critical to Škoda's broader growth targets in the country.