Skoda Octavia RS-P to race in Targa Tasmania 2010 posts ONLY!

[dsgfh]

So I'm not sure they're taking the race seriously, but they're certainly doing what they can to make sure they get noticed.
27 April Prologue

Hopefully they're doing enough to get themselves some coverage.

[team_v]

Hahahaha!
Love the idea of running with 2 bikes on the roof-racks to show how diverse the car's uses are.

I hope they do well and that the skoda brand gets some good press from it.

[Inego]

I was wondering yesetrday how good those bike roof mounts are, given my love of spirited driving - question answered! I assume they're the factory Thule ones, which I might pick up at the weekend.....

[Tim]

Hopefully now they have made their scene and got their publicity they can lose the bicycles. Kinda makes a mockery of the event in my opinion.

[team_v]

Hopefully now they have made their scene and got their publicity they can lose the bicycles. Kinda makes a mockery of the event in my opinion.

To adegree i see your point.

However they are also running an i30 Diesel and an MPS-3 so i don't knwo if these cars are going to be overly competitive.

[Tim]

To be "competitive" or to "compete" are two completely different things.
I dont know why but it just doesnt sit right with me. Takes the targa and turns it into a gimmicy publicity stunt.
I would probably think differently if it was a private team havin a bit of a laugh.

[dsgfh]

To be "competitive" or to "compete" are two completely different things.
I dont know why but it just doesnt sit right with me. Takes the targa and turns it into a gimmicy publicity stunt.
I would probably think differently if it was a private team havin a bit of a laugh.

I think it's definitely a gimmicky publicity stunt but lets be honest, at the moment that's exactly what Skoda needs. I can't imagine ~80 sales a month is going to be sustainable for very long, so any publicity is a good thing. I suspect the Targa organisers don't mind though (scrutineering would have pulled them up otherwise) since it's a chance of getting them a few seconds of extra TV time.

[RSwag]

Another poorly thought out, ill conceived attempt at getting recognition. I know i am going to be crucified by this but i think you will find that in the long run i will be vindicated. Targa is a drivers event, it takes up 2-3 minutes on a news reel and might get a run on SBS, it will never get them any mainstream recognition. Targa is mainly watched by males and is engaging as it allows you to see weird and wonderful, exotic performance cars. People don't watch it to see a family wagon belting around nor would that get pumped about something they know NOTHING about.

This is a brand in the throws of decline, i say this with a tinge of sadness as it has so much potential. Pricing is a VERY VERY significant issue also, having VW equivalents priced, at best, the same and at worst (and in most cases) more will see the product stagnate. I know from personal experience, i cancelled my RS order for the Golf Wagon, a decision i do not regret. I didn't get the 2.0ltr turbo but 118tsi drove beautifully and the sports pack looks the goods, i also saved $1,000's in the process.

This is a product with great potential, i hope for that things change soon and that i am wrong. What KIWI said earlier about the head office selecting cars for comparison i believe to be correct. I shook my head when i read the diesel wagon comparison online for the Golf, Peugeot, Mazda, and Skoda. The decision to put the Roomster up against all these models was made by head office, it was made at a time where they are aware the model was being discontinued (refer jake02 posting) and was done knowing it would fail dismally.

Maybe this is where the problem lies?

[woofy]

<snip self justifying rant> If people are so passionate about the foretold demise of Skoda and are willing to put forward a letter to Skoda HQ on behalf of the owners here about these concerns (I could wrangle up some more from the facebook group) then please do so. But FFS stop writing the same doom lines over and over again.

[TuNeS]

The brand isnt dying at all. I see more on the road all the time. Brand awareness is slowly increasing.