Skoda Fabia RS

**RSwag** · 02-01-2011, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by K1W1

I'd love to see the source of those numbers they run contrary to everything else I've seen about Skoda sales figures in 2010.

Yeah, read a bit further, not accurate at all.

**RSwag** · 02-01-2011, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by bobski

Yes there have some spectacular ruses and falls in all areas of retail but softly softly is also a bad thing. brands like SAAB, Alfa and Citreon have spent decades in the 'go softly' approach once considered a niche in this market it us a reputation they can almOst never shake. There needs to be a flow and a general acceptance and recognition, something Skoda have none of at the moment. For New Zealand to have the entire line up and Australia unable to justify it I still think VW are keeping the reigns tight to ensure the develop
ent is and remains slow.

As for the footy deal, I heard it us not due to start until 2012 and would go relatively unnoticed as most if not all supporters would have no idea who they are. The other thing is the fact that the cycling, this is their core most exposed audience globally and although they spent (reportedly) millions on the Australian tour it has meant next to nothing in the sales figures nationally.

**RSwag** · 02-01-2011, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by bobski

Yes there have some spectacular rises and falls in all areas of retail but softly softly is also a bad thing. brands like SAAB, Alfa and Citreon have spent decades in the 'go softly' approach once considered a niche brand in this market it is a reputation they can almOst never shake. There needs to be a flow and a general acceptance and recognition, something Skoda have none of at the moment. For New Zealand to have the entire line up and Australia unable to justify it I still think VW are keeping the reigns tight to ensure the developent is and remains slow.

As for the footy deal, I heard it us not due to start until 2012 and would go relatively unnoticed as most if not all supporters would have no idea who they are. The other thing is the fact that the cycling, this is their core most exposed audience globally and although they spent (reportedly) millions on the Australian tour it has meant next to nothing in the sales figures nationally.

**K1W1** · 02-01-2011, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by RSwag

For New Zealand to have the entire line up and Australia unable to justify it I still think VW are keeping the reigns tight to ensure the developent is and remains slow.

You must remember that Skoda in NZ has always had a higher profile than in Australia. Communist Skodas were still available in NZ right up till the late 1970's at least albeit in small numbers. As a brand most NZ'ers would know of Skoda while relatively few Australians do. On top of that Skoda is imported into NZ by a distributor (Giltrap's) not by the factory. Distributors have different pricing models and marketing methods than factories. I'm sure that if Giltraps go to the factory with a handful of money they get what they want whereas if Skoda Australia want something it becomes a political decision with the VW group unrelated to anything outside group politics.

**RSwag** · 03-01-2011, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by K1W1

You must remember that Skoda in NZ has always had a higher profile than in Australia. Communist Skodas were still available in NZ right up till the late 1970's at least albeit in small numbers. As a brand most NZ'ers would know of Skoda while relatively few Australians do. On top of that Skoda is imported into NZ by a distributor (Giltrap's) not by the factory. Distributors have different pricing models and marketing methods than factories. I'm sure that if Giltraps go to the factory with a handful of money they get what they want whereas if Skoda Australia want something it becomes a political decision with the VW group unrelated to anything outside group politics.

I must admit I was unaware that the profile of Skoda was higher in NZ, I thought they were in mirroring circumstances as us, riding off the success of VW and working as a manufacturer import so this is news for me and good to know, certainly explains things.

As fir the politics you mentioned, that is something I have suspected for a while now and find it hard to understand. This conflict has been a constant globally but has nit been suppressed anywhere other than here. It us something they would have easily foreseen and it seems stupid to launch a brand only to deliberately strangle it?!

Thanks for the info on NZ Kiwi

**bobski** · 03-01-2011, 11:21 AM

KIWI, I think NZ also has more relaxed import/safety laws - which may make it easier to get vehicles in and makes acceptance of non-core brands higher (my 86 year old grand-father-in-law owns an FTO lol).

RSwag, the cycling community/audience is minuscule compared to the footy community. I see something to do with the giants quite regularly in NSW and most of us don't really like AFL. AFL makes news even in the off season and in season, its all many people talk about in VIC, SA and WA.

In australia, millions spent on AFL is going to get far more exposure than millions spent on cycling. I think its a good move as long as Skoda leverage the wave of interest that will be generated as the giants start up. And I think they will.

I suppose we should resurrect this thread in a year and see how they went

**RSwag** · 03-01-2011, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by bobski

RSwag, the cycling community/audience is minuscule compared to the footy community. I see something to do with the giants quite regularly in NSW and most of us don't really like AFL. AFL makes news even in the off season and in season, its all many people talk about in VIC, SA and WA.

In australia, millions spent on AFL is going to get far more exposure than millions spent on cycling. I think its a good move as long as Skoda leverage the wave of interest that will be generated as the giants start up. And I think they will.

I suppose we should resurrect this thread in a year and see how they went

I should clarify, if people knew the product and identified with it they would be drawn to such exposure but if i saw a logo on their jersey and didn't know it i would ignore it. That type of branding only finds success when people can easily identify with the brand, it is more brand reinforcement than it is brand building.

Maybe thats the plan, the 2012 start date gives them this year to build more brand recognition to which the GWS deal will strengthen?!

Originally Posted by bobski

I suppose we should resurrect this thread in a year and see how they went

With any luck i will be proven very very wrong

P.S. Looked at the Skoda Oz website today and it appears the Yeti launch is imminent, all i can complain about now is the Fabia ;-P

**K1W1** · 03-01-2011, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by bobski

KIWI, I think NZ also has more relaxed import/safety laws - which may make it easier to get vehicles in and makes acceptance of non-core brands higher (my 86 year old grand-father-in-law owns an FTO lol).

With regards to used cars certainly. Virtually every hire car in NZ is a used Japanese import and Toyota, Nissan and Subaru delareships all carry Japanese model parts manuals so they can supply spare parts.

As far as new cars are concerned I think the regulations in NZ are essentially that if the vehicle is right and drive (naturally) and it meets either the US or the European or ADR safety standards it's allowed. There are no NZ specific standards in the way that Australian motoring is stangled by ADR and really important things like having to have ADR stamps on seat belt buckles for goodness sake.

BTW: I have mentioned this before but in the early 1980's one of my customers in NZ was actually the largest Skoda wrecker in the world (which wasn't hard when you think about it). He used to regularly ship Skoda parts from NZ back to all parts of Europe.

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