[TusharK]

Zac Hollis - Skoda's Director of Sales & Marketing in India, is nearing the end of his term. Rumours suggest that he will be transferred to another international location.



We’ve been told that Zac Hollis is likely to be replaced by an executive from Russia, whose identity and the date of appointment is still unknown.

Zac Hollis took charge as the Director of Sales, Service & Marketing at Skoda India back in 2018. Prior to this, he was the Head of sales for the China region.

Hollis was part of the team that oversaw the implementation of the India 2.0 strategy. He is known for being very active on social media, where he often addresses the concerns of customers.

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Link to Team-BHP News

[Turbohead]

Will miss him! Wishing him the best for his future endeavours!

So many enthusiasts have bought Skoda products only because of the confidence and resolutions given by the gentleman!

The replacing executive has big shoes to fill.

Hope Skoda grows in terms of responsibility and numbers not only because of their relatively sporty products but also to continue giving some competition to the players from the Far East.

[CEF_Beasts]

I am sure a hell lot of people in India bought Skodas in recent times, only because of Zac Hollis leading Skoda India, they will be utterly disappointed and scared after reading this!

Can only wish the new person who takes the role is as communicative, open, friendly and active on social media as Zac Hollis was. It was Zac Hollis who turned the fortunes for Skoda India, by dealing with the cheat dealers in the right way.

I convinced my cousin brother to go with Kushaq because in case of any issue a straight away escalation matrix was known, thankfully I dissuaded my cousin from going for the 1.5L TSI with the dreaded DSG DQ200 and he went for the 1.0L TSI TC AT.

Wishing him good luck for his future endeavours

[Arinmech]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Zac Hollis - Skoda's Director of Sales & Marketing in India, is nearing the end of his term.

This guy was exceptional to his own credit. Very much customer centric and he proactively tried to change the perception of Skoda sales and service. Indian auto customers will miss him it this is true. All the best to him for his future endeavour.

[saket77]

Have heard only good things about this gentleman. A big chunk of trust in Skoda India was developed during his tenure- by his actions.

Surely Skoda India fans will miss him. Wish him good luck!

[shobhit.shri]

Probably, it's another fallout of less than stellar results of the India 2.0 plan. He made Skoda a responsive organization, and I could see the change compared to 2013 when I bought Skoda Rapid.

The VAG was anyway not doing great, but I hope they keep investing money and energy in the India venture.

[TechnoBloop]

Wishing him all the best for his future ahead. Skoda India surely gained a lot under his guidance. A person who was active on social media replying to the customers who faced some or the other issue in his/her car and promising to solve those problems really shows his good and likeable personality!
We will surely miss him.

[KapilD]

If the news is true then we, Skoda owners, would miss him a lot. The service centre guys are scared as hell (of him) when it comes to resolution of issues.

I hope we get a worthy successor to him. Skoda Cars were always great. Aftersales was a problem which Zac resolved a lot and fast. True to the tag of Brand Director.

Will follow this news keenly now on.. fingers crossed!

[libranof1987]

I'm not sure of the role he played in the India strategy for the Skoda / larger VW group, or his part in how the made-for-India products are faring. But the one area he's been responsible for, he's excelled at.

For a brand that has been notorious for absolutely pathetic customer support / service, he brought in tremendous confidence and faith. And he's been consistent and sincere with his outreach on social media - not just for the applauses and museum pieces, but fixing things and walking the talk when necessary.

More power to him, and hope Skoda brings in someone who can carry forward the good work Zac Hollis got going.

[Latheesh]

Good number of Skoda sales is because of Zac. I am not a Skoda customer but had to send this gentleman an email to get my Kushaq booking amount refund after multiple follow up with the dealer failed. Booking amount was refunded within hours after sending the email.

Wish him good luck!

[SR-71]

While its always sad to see towering leaders leave, it’s even more sad to note that there is single point of contact / failure for an entire company and its dealership network to do the right things. And if this is true, something is fundamentally wrong with that company.

Being fair should be in the DNA of the company and clearly Skoda India did not have that in the past. It took a top-level leadership change to bring the company back from the dead. The real test is how the company and its mid / low level leaders continue to fare after this gentleman leaves. If Skoda continues to do as decently as it does today, then this gentleman has succeeded in his role as a change agent and in effecting a lasting change at Skoda India.

[CafeRacer16]

Zac can be credited for single handedly improving the after sales experience for Skoda.
I really hope he gets the AC issue resolved before he leaves for his next assignment else there is little hope of getting a fix.

[shibujp]

The one man customer service department for Skoda. He did an amazing job at improving the after sales service perception of Skoda. Unfortunately he does not leave behind any confidence that anything has actually changed in this respect. In fact I would say that when you need to escalate to a top level executive to get the larger organization to pay attention it points to the rot in the underlying system more than anything else.

Thanks,
Shibu

[lordrayden]

When the Kushaq was embroiled in EPC-gate fresh after the launch, many (rightly) found comfort in the "tag Zac on twitter" mantra to get resolution to their problems.

And this was brought up as a risk by many in the Kushaq thread that if all of Skoda's responsiveness to customer complaints is resting on one man and his twitter account, surely that responsiveness will go away once that man leaves. And it has come to pass (maybe, still rumor).

Anyways, all the best to Mr Zac Hollis. He has changed (hopefully not temporarily) the perception of Skoda's customer service for many including myself, who almost bought one of their cars.

[cuboid]

I fail to understand why we should hail Zac Hollis' responsiveness on the Social Media. For me it just shows the systemic failure Skoda is - everything needs to be driven from up top.

Why is there no accountability in the high and mid rung decision makers? Why is that Mr Hollis will have to "take up with my team" all the issues? Why is the local dealer and service centers not receptive to customers issues directly?

For me, in spite of all of Mr Hollis' customer centricity, this is a large scale failure of Skoda India. So I would ask - what exactly has he done to systematically improve the most notorious complaint about the company called Skoda India - sheer apathy to customers. Skoda 2.0 and all that is all great. But the fact that we are mourning his rumoured departure is a tall-tale sign that he probably has somewhat failed to deliver on his brief.

Or ... wait ... was improving customer centricity ever in the brief?