So you think Skodas are expensive in Australia?

[bobski]

Definitely not good, I'm not 100% sure that it will be happening, but a little birdy told me it has to, and indeed it does. Surely Skoda would compensate somehow!

Yeah, well I'd rather take a $500 hit (although they are late in delivery so I think I can rescind anyway - need to recheck the fine print), than a several thousand $ one...

[woofy]

I wouldn't stress Bobski, if it is something dramatic then I think they might give some compensation...ala Mazda when the new 6's price was dropped a few months later. Either way, you were either happy to pay what you did at the time or not, and if you dropped your order and then reinstated it over a vapour rumour you will back of the line again.

[dsgfh]

I guess it's also worth keeping in mind that while it might suck a little now for those with current orders, if it's enough to push sales up it may well help you retain resale at the other end. It's certainly in no-ones interest for the brand to fail in the market.

I would like to see on their website the tie between Skoda Australia and Volkswagon Australia Pty Ltd. Given comments I've read on here about Skoda Australia's management I suspect people don't realise that Skoda is just a trading name and that VW Aus & Skoda are in fact the one organisation. It takes away uncertainty about warranty in particular, in my mind at least.

[woofy]

I think most owners here do know they are the same. There is a division though, the management of Skoda are separate teams to the VW team, just the group as a whole manage both VW and Skoda.

[bobski]

I wouldn't stress Bobski, if it is something dramatic then I think they might give some compensation...ala Mazda when the new 6's price was dropped a few months later. Either way, you were either happy to pay what you did at the time or not, and if you dropped your order and then reinstated it over a vapour rumour you will back of the line again.

No worries there, to take action, I'd need to have certain proof that something was happening. I'm happy to pay what I'm paying for it now. But I won't knowingly chuck a couple of thousand in the bin either.

As for the low sales numbers, I think its brand recognition that is the killer. Linking the Skoda name with VW would be a good way to enforce the quality of engineering.

[K1W1]

We are totally off topic here but Skodas problem is not pricing and dropping the price will not substantially increase sales. If they do that they are nuts and will kill themselves.
Skoda's problem is quite simple - stock or lack thereof.
Until Skoda Australia get the confidence to carry a reasonable amount of stock in bond so a punter can walk into a dealership on Saturday, take a test drive, be told what cars are available that meet or nearly meet their spec, do a deal and then drive away in that car a week or so later they simply will not build sales. Our local VW dealer has 40 or 50 cars available, our Holden dealer has hundreds likewise our Toyota and Nissan dealers. The City Mazda group in Melbourne carries up to 800 new cars across all their dealerships (not all Mazda). What do Skoda dealers have in stock available for sale at any one time 2, 3 or 4 cars (including the demos)? Average punters won't wait four months, enthusiasts will but enthusiasts won't produce sales volumes.

[spellbound]

Dead right kiwi , stock is the big problem , when i made up my mind i wanted the rs i had no idea there might be a 3 month wait .

I got lucky because i was happy with a wagon in silver or black , with sunroof , back in o8 , bingo they had just landed a black wagon mit roof .

If not there is no way i would have waited , like some of the patient dudes here .

My next purchase is 12 months away and thinking about superb wagon awd V6 , but if its going to take 7 months , forget it .

[woofy]

They actually had stock for the first 12mths so that stock levels wouldn't be an issue when launching, but that ended in 2008, and due to the GFC left lots of car makes with stock burning a big hole. After that production at Skoda was slowed, and we have had issues getting stock ever since. Skoda gave them special provision for the initial stock so I don't think its so much them not holding much as Skoda CZ not giving them as much anymore.

[selurs]

65 miserable sales. I know a fix is on the way though....

It sounds smallish (although not as small as Saab's massive ducks egg, and it beats Alfa by one), but let's say the average sale price for those 65 cars is $35K (that's probably quite low, given they're probably mostly VRses, and Superb's start much higher, but we'll be conservative). That equates to over $2.2 million, which is not to be sneased at. You don't need huge volumes to have okay turnovers. Sure it would be nice if they were doing hundreds a month, but if they're turning over $25m+ a year (which they will if they average 60-odd sales a month), that's still making a decent amount. Hell, I'd love it if the company *I* worked for was turning over $25m a year!

So...take a chill pill, it's not as bad as it seems.

[Jake02]

So...take a chill pill, it's not as bad as it seems.

What? I'm not worried about how much money they're making, rather how many are on the roads. I like the difference and freshness Skoda brings to our roads, and I'd like to see more of them, that's all.