Rumoured Golf pricing bad news for Skoda?

[cbay]

maybe they're aiming to price the rapid at that point, since the new octy has 'grown'. time will tell how things will pan out, i think it's in Skoda's best interest to take care of their own and keep whatever brand loyalty they have, and 'evangelise' through current owners... there may not be much new attraction to the brand if the price isn't right over the course of the year.

[Dutch77]

They've invested a lot of time and most importantly money into establishing themselves, they just need to stick it out and hope moves like this don't kill the brand off as we'd be poorer for it.

I think GM/Opel are learning this the hard way, it's going to take more than a Euro badge and 5 minutes of advertising to convince people to hop on board.

[zei20t]

is it me or is there no advertising for the Octavia?

ive seen the fabia RS ad, and the yeti ad. nothing else besides some print ads in newspapers or magazines.

every time I turn on the tv I see an Opel ad. then I want to go check out the OPS astra

[Dutch77]

They hammered the Fabia RS on Adelaide TV when it came out, and yes I do recall the Yeti ads floating in and out of the schedule, but never an Octavia.. which is odd, wouldnt this be the #1 seller?

A lot of their advertising has been brand based prior to that, big tie in with cycling on SBS and Tour Down Under.

[cbay]

Add to the Golf's sharp pricing some capped servicing and Skoda could well be in trouble. :S

[BluChris]

Surely they'd have to offer it on Skoda too? If not, then yes the brand will really struggle.

Given the strength of VW, and especially Golf, in Australia, this will also be a huge issue for the other manufacturers. If Golf VII has the improved reliability it needs (no more dodgy 7 speed DSGs, disintegrating engines etc), then with reduced price and capped price servicing they will sell bucketloads. Honda especially should be worried - in the doldrums sales wise, not especially price competitive and 6 month service intervals with no capped price servicing.

OTOH dealer attitudes to servicing also need some work. Hopefully VAG will impress this upon the less helpful out there that customer service is paramount.

[Dutch77]

Keeping in mind a $20k Golf would be bare bones and 77TSI.. whereas I think base Octavia is 90TSI and I assume there is more room in these? They start at $25k which is where a 90TSI Golf currently sits as well, so if VW were consistent and knocked this price down, then Octavia would probably need to follow suit.

Question is whether they leave 77TSI as a price leader down low, then keep 90TSI equivalent at the $25k mark with more options. Guess it's all speculation for now.

(But I suppose my point is people are still buying up Octavias that are priced in line with Golf models)

[zei20t]

id buy a skoda purely on fixed price servicing! you get more car for your money than the equivalent golf. and I don't mean physical size

IMO the skoda is a better choice, but some people don't like the styling. I only semi-like it. but its so much fun to drive!

[PassatB6]

There will have to be a Skoda price drop. Otherwise people will simply move from Skoda to VW, which is probably no advantage to VAG. This would cause VW to cannibalise its own profits. The aim is not to compete with Skoda but with Hyundai. A cheap Golf is an attempt to get at Hyundai/Toyota etc.

[woofy]

The one thing to keep in mind though, is that a Rapid and the new Octavia are much bigger cars inside. If they drop the Jetta pricing, that is when things will get worrying.

The main models that will be affected will be the Roomster and the Fabia, but likewise the Polo will be under some cannibalism there. I'm sure the Rapid will be priced with the Golfs new pricing in mind.