New Octavia ....when? How Much?

[brad]

Lack of (suitable) stock?

It certainly appears that Skoda want people to order & wait rather than have enough stock to fulfill immediate needs.

Keep in mind the launch was so late in the year that all the floor stock almost immediately became "last years model" whith a purchaser expectation of an appropriate discount to compensate - not a good look for a brand new model. Ideally, any new model launch should be from about March onwards so that all the vehicles are from the New Year January build but an ideal situation isn't always possible.

[woofy]

The car came out so late its not funny, but stock is hard to get so I would bet the numbers in the next 6mths will beat all previous records as deliveries start coming in. The launch of Skoda to begin with was exactly the same, very late in the year.

I think the packs should help a lot as well, as there will be less need for factory orders all the time with everything bundled together. Part of me thinks the reason the RS sold so well here compared to the rest of the range was due to it having less options and more standard so stock was easier to predict.

[brad]

Agree on the packs.

Elegance has me confused now as it's been taken a lot further up-market than mine is. The vRS definately had more fruit than the Elegance in 2008 when I purchased.

The irony is that if I was to buy new later this year I'd probably go the vRS if the spec is equal or lower than the Elegance due to the lack of a manual option in the Elegance (more to the point, the DSG7).

[woofy]

Yeah a manual Elegance would be a game changer, especially when there is no such thing in the VW/Audi offerings but the way of the world is auto so unlikely to happen. I think the manual will cause me to get an RS as well in the end. Won't be until the end of next year though so probably will get the first of the MY16 cars.

[brad]

the way of the world is auto

The way of America & Australia.

I believe 71% of new cars in the UK are still manual. If my wife's families vehicles in Germany/Austria are an indication manuals far outweigh auto in Europe too.

[woofy]

I got a very low ball trade in on my 2006 immaculate low kms Mazda 6 2 yrs ago as "noone wants the manuals" The Mazda auto gearbox at the time was an old gutless wonder, whereas the new 6 spd manual was awesome so logic had nothing to do with the market at all.

Lazy had a whole lot to do with everything...

[bobski]

I don't think its laziness, its ease of use.

My preference is a manual, but if I had to regularly drive in city traffic, I'd take an auto every time. 48 weeks a year of changing gears 200 times at 30km/h is tedious no matter what the car. Car makers follow the market, the market wants autos and the market is full of people that see cars as simple transportation and want it to be easy. Wait until self driving cars become mainstream!

[occy]

When I lived in the country I drove nothing bur manuals, but as in the previous post changing gears continually in stop/start traffic becomes pretty tedious.

The other factor is the improvement in auto gearboxes. Modern gearboxes are a lot more efficient and the latest DSG is really an amazing gearbox.

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[dArK5HaD0w]

mk3 vRS lowered on eibach springs - 25mm front & 20mm rear.......

[Mountainman]

OMG that looks a big car now. Looks like it is a Passat size in the wagon version. I couldn't live with those wheels though - must be my conservative tastes.