Skoda Brand Direction

[My_Yeti]

I stumbbled across this earlier.

Slide 5 on this http://intech2.tul.cz/dokumenty/dokumenty/03~P%C5%99edn%C3%A1%C5%A1ka%201%20%C5%A0koda-Auto/01b-Koloc_Zah%C3%A1jen%C3%AD%20dne_Z.pdf

As we know Skoda has been a "Cheap Brand" (not my words) and "Value for Money Brand", it looks like Skoda is going for "Brand Image" now, looks like with the Superb and the Yeti.

This could explain the close pricing to the Golf Plus (for the Yeti) and the Passat (for the Superb)?

[roman.w]

They seem to have a long term game plan.

[frankman]

Friends,

even though I bought my Octavia estate on a very good deal, for many years I haven't thought of Skoda as a cheap brand - far from it.

My new Skoda is my first purchase, since having bought several Fiats over the years, which I have enjoyed I must add. But my new car simply feels like a more substantial vehicle, than my current Fiat Doblo, which I still own.

There's no reason why Skoda ought not to pursue to increase their brand image. Being part of the VW group, it should be expected.

FRank.

[gac]

There's no reason why Skoda ought not to pursue to increase their brand image. Being part of the VW group, it should be expected.

But the VW group already has several distinct brands.

Audi - Money no object

VW - Audi for the "man in the street"

SEAT - "Sportier" than the two above

Skoda - ???

They won't compete with SEAT's sports pedigreee IMO (the Ibiza in the F2 Rally Championships, touring car successes, the Leon Supercopa, etc) and SEAT still make more "hot hatch" models than Skoda (Ibiza FR/Cupra/Bocanegra, Leon FR/FR+/Cupra/Cupra R vs the Fab vRS and Octy vRS). On the other hand Skodas seem to have more gadgets for less money, almost as a "testing ground" before the same things get into the higher end cars where the perceived impact is greater if they're not perfect (for example if your satnav is a bit crap on a £10k car, then you'd get less worked up about it than if your satnav was a bit crap on a £30k car).

That's the way I've always seen it anyway, Skoda very very much as the "Value for Money" brand of the VW group, alongside the "sportiness" of SEAT and the "badge snobbery" of VW and Audi.

[Matt Bodycombe]

Skoda is still the value brand. Note I say value not budget as the cars are getting pricey. They are not fighting Dacia put it that way. That seems to be the only no frills brand at the moment though VW and others looking at the possibility.

[OchAye]

I tend to think of Skoda sitting where Volvo used to before they tried to become premium - practical, no nonsense, well thought out cars for thinking people. I think they've reached maturity in terms of design.

[camelspyyder]

But what of Skoda's painstakingly won "Quality" reputation.

 

Pushing underdeveloped and old fashioned cars like the Rapid onto the market has undermined the good work of the previous 15 years.

 

Maybe it's good enough for China and Mexico, but it really isn't here in Europe.

 

Other new models have underwhelmed many posters on here as well.  From what I read on Brisky, the quality of Octy 3 and Fab 3 is considered a retrograde step by many.

[ColinD]

*desirable*

 

How the customer gets to that is open ended. Be it a value, clever, practical path I don't think that's clear. Because it's not.

 

It's certainly less affordable than it once was, the difference is still there, but far less. If you're after a cheap car a to b it used to be there, but the ascendency of Korea and other joint project means it's almost 2x for a basic city car.

 

Practical works, look at the octavia v golf v 3series boot.

 

Clever, meh maybe, this I find the hardest one of all to figure how it's clever over any other car as all marques are trying to be clever with gadgets. At the end of the day 'clever' will be won by driverless cars, that's clever!

 

But with growth comes problems, it's all to easy to rush to meet production demands, one lemon too many and you're off down to visit citroen for quality control... I only say this as I owned and was raised in, so didn't know any other car marque till I was in my mid 20's.

 

I think the volvo seat is quite clearly a good call. The gap in the thinking is the XC90 crowd, i.e. the 70% of cars the mums buy... the yetiGrande or whatever it's called will be the obvious filler and yet more cramped showrooms!

[BossFox]

Skodas direction is simple.  Make more money.

Sell lots of cars, become a bigger fleet player.  They are not run to keep enthusiasts happy, only shareholders.

Hence IMO the desire for brand image, similar styling across all models. (it worked for Audi after all...)

 

That's why the Octavia 3 and Fabia 3 are noticeably more expensive than the mk2 versions of each.

And why profits are up over 50%.

 

To me the best selling point Skoda has is that you get a bigger boot than the competition.  They are more practical.

They are not much cheaper than similar cars and no better to drive.

[B33fy]

Brand loyalty, buying with your emotions and stuck on past brand values are old fashioned human behaviours when considering your next purchase. Car manufacturers move with the times customers should also. Skoda lost me after owning three mk2 vRS Octavias, moving too close to the opposition with the mk3 and better cars around for similar money. A shame but that's the way it rolls.