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Dob them in to Skoda, I did with FT gully. What's the point of trying to establish a new brand when they are half assed. Skoda Richmond always line up a car for me, and its been good, I've had an new Scout, and old Scout, a 2l TDi leather Octavia with DSG, a DSG RS TDi FL and pre FL. They charge the Audi guys a fee though for the same cars which is funny.
I checked out Skoda Australia website and there seems to be more dealers listed than before. I do not know whether they are current but the list appears to be longer. I think, here in Perth, the Skoda previous dealership must have handed over their franchise as it had moved south of the river. But this happened about a year ago.
There is still only one dealership in Perth but I do see a lot of Skodas now, especially in western suburbs. Otherwise I would love to be worried about the resale value - I cant afford a trade up regardless!! I wish I had money to go and buy new Octavia vRS :tear::tear::tear:
Has VWA just put a knife in the back of Skoda?
VW today announced the release of the Golf wagon and the new re-alignment of the Passat range. I have not gone through the specs comparing Skoda to VW spec for spec so these are looking at the basic price for each model range only.
Passat
The numbers speak for themselves. Comparing like models, the Passat is now cheaper than the Skoda equivalent. Looking at the sedans (since the Superb wagon is not out yet):
Passat 118TSI $38,990
Superb 1.8TSI Ambition $39,990
Passat 125TDI Highline $43,990 (now standard with Napa leather)
Superb 2.0TDI Elegance $47,990
Passat V6 FSI 4Motion $55,990
Superb V6 4x4 $55,990
There is no way a Skoda can compete with VW with that kind of pricing. Unless someone really wants the Twindoor, that means Skoda will have to adjust their pricing, or I can't see how they can make it work. I think the general feel on this forum is that VWA did not make Skoda competitive relative to VW products, and now this absurd situation has developed where the Superb costs more than the equivalent Passat.
Golf Wagon
Again, the numbers speak for themselves.
Golf Wagon 90TSI Trendline (m) $26,990
Octavia Wagon 1.6 (m) $26,990
Golf Wagon 90TSI Trendline DSG $29,490
Octavia Wagon 1.6 (a) $29,290
Golf Wagon 118TSI comfortline $33,990
Octavia Wagon 1.8 TSI DSG $35,290
Golf Wagon 103TDI comfortline $36,490
Octavia Wagon 2.0 TDI DSG $37,790
The Skoda prices were just dropped in mid-Jan too, so unless a further drop is going to come, I really do not see how Skoda can hope to compete in the Australian market. Someone need to have a real hard look at Skoda's business plan and its ability to stay in the long term.
That's your opinion. My reality is that I would not have purchased a Golf regardless of price, in fact I haven't even been into a VW dealer for several years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spook
They are different brands with different features and benefits and a different target market. Sure Skoda may not sell in the same numbers as VW but they are having difficulty supporting the sales they are making now so I doubt that they would want to sell VW numbers in the near future at least.
To give you some historical perspective look at the numbers of Mazda 626 vehicles that were sold in the 1980's when the way cheaper and virtually identical Ford Telstar / TX5 was on the market, same applies for the Mazda 323 / Ford Laser or the Holden Astra / Toyota Corolla or Nissan Pulsar.
I have to say that this worried me too, but then I looked at it from an outsiders perspective. The Passat is considered a Premium Medium-sized car (comparing to Laguna, 159, 407 etc) whereas the Superb is considered a Premium Large-sized car (like upmarket versions of the Commodore, Falcon, Aurion etc) and is priced appropriately more than the Passat because of the extra space and equipment as standard. The notion that the Superb should be cheaper than the Passat 'because it's a Skoda' is crap, because you get a bigger car!
The Octavia wagon is a little harder. The base model has less engine than the Golf, but has more equipment and space. The manual transmission is available on the 118TSI/103TDI versions of the Octavia but not the Golf, offering an advantage for those who like to shift by themselves. I might add that you have to spend an extra $2000 on the Comfort Package (fogs, rain/light sensor, dual-zone climate-control etc) to get to Octavia spec and then there are things that the Octavia has which you can't get on the Golf (electric folding mirrors, the massive boot etc)!
The final advantage is the Octavia RS. There isn't a Golf GTI wagon or anything near as sporty as the RS in the Golf Wagon lineup, and that makes the RS a truly unique product, hence being Skoda's best-selling car! So, I'm not worried, I know that Skoda are going for a non-Volkswagen unique Market (which is what they said at my house filming the Convince Your Better Half advertisements) so why would they worry about them? Thanks
Are you gonna be in a TV ad? That sounds good. I havent seen many Skoda ads lately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake02
Nevertheless, VW pricing may be somewhat deceiving. Take Tiguan price of $33,900 for example. When you have it with what you want, it is at 50 grands range as my friends found out. Also, you can get a good discount at Skoda dealer while VW does not want to bargain and hits you with higher dealer delivery charges and so on.
It's an online campaign. I can't see the link from the Skoda website, but here it is: http://www.convinceyourbetterhalf.com.au/betterhalf/Quote:
Originally Posted by Frufru
Agreed. I do like the RS. Some people say the styling is bland, but I don't mind it. It truely is the "GTI wagon".Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake02
I think Skoda must be gearing up for a price cut, yes they are different but they aren't that close any other country, time to drop the pretence and sell them.....We'll all take a hit with resales, but next time around they will be cheaper as well.
Unless as someone said the accessories make the VW a lot more $$$ certainly the Tiguan was very deceptive, if not verging on dishonest when it was advertised around the 32k mark...just getting it on the road added thousands and when I looked at them VW were not budging on the price.
The reputation of Skoda has been on the up and up since they became part of VAG.
We have now reached a point, in Europe at least, where many people in the industry, (including many in the motoring press) would choose a Skoda over a similar VW product.
You could say that having come from a position of being the poor mans VW, Skoda is now the thinking mans VW.
So from the point of view of Skoda Australia why should their cars be any cheaper than those of VW?
But you have to remember that in other countries like the UK for example EVERYTHING is an extra. The features that we get standard here on the vRS for example that are optional extra cost items in the UK include, Maxidot display, auto wipers and dimming mirror, heated seats, dual zone AC, rear parking sensors, spare wheel and jack. Just looking at base prices is not the whole picture.Quote:
Originally Posted by woofy