Next Gen Superb - 17/2/15

[AwesomePossum]

We've both just replied at the same time....

Some of your best work with that!! Massive thanks! I was hating the thought of having to take a new car to get the headlining ripped out!

It's going to be a tough choice between the 206 Superb with Sportline and the 206 Passat! Any thoughts on what the Passat with go for? Late 60's?

[tigger73]

Given that the Golf R wagon was/is $66k, I'd expect the Passat 206TSI to be the other side of $70k...

[blueSup]

A Passat 206 guess? It's too far out for a solid guess. The exchange rate is they key, and how much the group thinks the VW badge is worth over the Skoda brand. If you look at the 140 Passat Wagon and compare it to the 140 Superb Wagon then it's $60k to $58k for close to the same thing (bar some fruit).
Given that Skoda isn't seen as the "cheap one" in Australia when compared to other countries, they may look to keep the Skoda price high to help push the VW prices higher, after all it's more money for them in the coffers at the end of the day.

[blueSup]

Well knock me down with a feather. There was an actual Superb commercial on Channel 10 in Sydney tonight, during The Project.

[woofy]

A Passat 206 guess? It's too far out for a solid guess. The exchange rate is they key, and how much the group thinks the VW badge is worth over the Skoda brand. If you look at the 140 Passat Wagon and compare it to the 140 Superb Wagon then it's $60k to $58k for close to the same thing (bar some fruit).
Given that Skoda isn't seen as the "cheap one" in Australia when compared to other countries, they may look to keep the Skoda price high to help push the VW prices higher, after all it's more money for them in the coffers at the end of the day.

And yet I keep hearing from the dealers how there is nothing in Skodas for them. Hard to imagine when there is $2990 in dealer delivery for starters when other companies charge around $1200 and quite often offer free onroads and DD. Skoda themselves did years back when I got my first.

[blueSup]

It looks like a Week 32 build for my car (8th August start). I hope the people that see that new advert are prepared for a similar wait.

[blueSup]

Dealers will always tell you there's no money in it. It's in their best interest to say so. Many years ago a bill of materials for a specific Audi model got out and showed just how much there was in it for dealers. A Holden dealer mate of mine gets $2.5k for a sale even after "negotiations".

[2009fsi]

It looks like a Week 32 build for my car (8th August start). I hope the people that see that new advert are prepared for a similar wait.

It reeks of a lack of belief in their own product, doesn't it bluesup. It happens when a businesses expectation is driven by the rear view mirror projections of ana!!y retentive accountants. No faith in their own product & a total aversion to 'having stock'. Skoda VAG might think they are delivering 'world's best practise', 'just in time', minimal overhead, smart management. I think them their products worst enemy. The same philosophy extends right down the chain to the dealer network, where not even the most common spares & consumables are stocked. Everything is at least a next day job from VAG's warehouse at Chullora in NSW.

One wonders just how many sales are lost when months of delay is the only option. In my case I'm taking a car in a colour I really don't like, because I'm not prepared to wait 6 months, just for a colour. I reason that as the driver, I'll be looking out of it, not at it, most of the time.

Doing a deal with a dealer to trade a car in six months time, with all the out of pocket costs that involves on an older, out of warranty vehicle, needing to maintain the value of your trade-in & in the case of some makes & dealers, having to get involved in hedging their FX exposure, is not for me. The sellers risk is all dumped in the buyers lap.

I came very close to pulling the plug on my 206 purchase. They got 'my car' in, the right colour & extras, only to realise the day before delivery, it was a 162, not a 206! I looked a Jags, Volvos, Mercs & Beamers, thought about a Jag, but decided to stick with the Skoda when they rounded up the one off the last ship. The 206 is the goods as far as I'm concerned. Surely Skoda will get it right this time! If not, I'll almost certainly go to the other dago, as we used to say before the precious PC mob escaped from the asylum. In most cases, 20k more for a car no better, in my opinion, not as good as the Skoda 206.

It seems to me, if you want to break out of being just a niche supplier to a small rusted on market, 'the new Saab' for eccentrics some say of Skoda, then the company has to start believing in its own product & potential. That means having a rolling supply of most commonly configured vehicles in stock & a support network adequately provisioned.

I think the product is good, but the management straight out of Arthur Daley enterprises.

[bobski]

I think the product is good, but the management straight out of Arthur Daley enterprises.

Has been that way since I bought my first one in 2010. If you want a desirable model, take what they have or be prepared to wait.

I got on good terms with the sales rep at my local Skoda dealer and he said many sales went down the gurgler if wait times of more than a month come up and lots of tyre kickers walked straight away. When I ordered my RS, they didn't put the order in for a month (after I rang them demanding to know the delivery date). I could have cancelled the order (am very glad I didn't), but that after sales support is just typical of many dealerships and I don't think Skoda can do anything about that as I doubt they are in a strong position with mixed brand dealerships where they are the underdog brand (which many seem to be these days). It is also the nature of the industry, salespeople are chasing sales, once the sale is made, your popularity wanes.

Given the factory seems to be flat out and Skoda worldwide is growing and growing, I really doubt anything will change and we'll see the same gripes in another 6 years on this forum At least the cars make up for it.

[2009fsi]

One of the unique things about Skida in Aystralia, compared to ither countries is, there really isn't Skoda representation out here, The show is completely under the control of a conflicted VAG. There is a Skoda sign on the building in Chullora, but everybody works for VW. Drive past, none of the staff going in & out or parked in the street is a Skoda.

I was talking to the salesman at my Skoda dealer yesterday. The level of frustration he feels when a keen buyer discovers his new dream car will be take 8 months, turns & walks away is intense. As he said, lots of buyers for a great product which is good enough to sell itself, let down by short sightedness by his supplier, VAG.

Let me add here, after just a few days of ownership, I could not possibly be more pleased with my 206 sedan.