We're pottering about in Western Europe at the moment. Our journey has so far covered nearly 1,000 miles, passing through Belgium, Germany (mainly Schwartzwald) and Switzerland - currently in Interlaken.

The car is doing 600 miles on a tankful, so I'm pleased with that. The surprising thing, to me at least, is that we've yet to see another Superb on the road! :really:

Ray

It's a re-run of the Mk I Superb saga. A worthy enough product, hopelessly marketed with not the slightest thought as to who might conceivably buy it. If they had produced a decent estate with a 7 seat option from day 1, they could have had a good slice of the old (proper) Volvo market - people who buy a car to do a job and to keep, and who have an appreciation of something of reasonable quality - and sod the badge.

With the range of VAG diesels available (something the old Volvos never had, and sorely needed) a decent big cost effective estate would have a good market in the UK.

VAG have, if anything gone from bad to worse (in a marketing sense) as they are now trying to sell a D segment car built on a C segment platform. They probably won't get away with this cost saving tactic - sharing platforms between model sizes historically has never worked well for anyone. Building a car of the size and weight of the Mk II on a stretched Golf platform may not have good long term prospects.

My (MK I) Superb is well screwdrivered by Skoda but has all of the old Passat faults - some very serious. The dealers are hopeless - so no more money to VAG from me. Pity, the car is reliable and has a wonderful diesel engine (handles like a barge though).

The Mk II residuals look set to follow those of the Mk I.

rotodiesel.

Rotodiesel, i agree with you about the marketing, it is absolutely hopeless. If you look on youtube there is some really good advertising for the Superb from (I think) Holland, I will try to find it and post the link.

My views; I know there are private owners on here but this is essentially a fleet car. I chose the Superb for my company car as I felt pretty much nothing else came close for the allowance (170PS,touch screen sat nav, leather/electric seats, bending bi-xenons etc). I also think it's handsome looking and is a grower, interior/boot space are best in class.

I get a lot, and mean a LOT of stick over my car from my colleagues...they all love it, but still give me stick...it really is quite bizarre. The vast majority of people's views have moved on not one jot from the time of my first Superb in 2003. Skoda STILL have a major image problem and they need to do something about it...I'm no marketeer so I don't have the answer.

Finally I don't understand what problems the platform will cause.

Here's the ad;

Dan

Edited 13 May, 200917 yr by dan123
add youtube link

I don't want the brand to go up state myself, I prefer it stays as it is, those that know know and those that don't pay a lot more for less, if they ever shake the image the cars will become Audi priced.

The brand is fine in the areas in which they have marketed it intelligently. There are hundreds of Fabias and Octavias on the road to every Superb (around here, every Suberb is a Mk I and all except mine are taxis) - I wonder if M-K have worked out the reason yet...

The Roomster is another obvious flop. Design a car which looks as though the monkey took the bits out of the box and the results are inevitable - it just doesn't matter how good it is - it's a **** up.

Our Czech friends make an excellent job of screwdrivering these cars for VAG but the best assembled car won't sell if it's not perceived to be right for the job - either because it looks like a greenhouse assembled without the plans or because the model mix and marketing strategy are wrong. Selling D segment cars to an image sensitive market might just be the wrong idea. Selling useful D segment sized vehicles to a market which is sensitive to value for money could be a very good idea.

The trouble is, VAG are too greedy - the useful D seg vehicles have VW and Audi badges and there are hundreds of them around. The fact that you see about 3 old model Passat diesel estates to any other form of Passat should have told them that. Volvo knew all about that too - when did you last see a (proper) Volvo saloon?

rotodiesel.

The brand is fine in the areas in which they have marketed it intelligently. There are hundreds of Fabias and Octavias on the road to every Superb (around here, every Suberb is a Mk I and all except mine are taxis) - I wonder if M-K have worked out the reason yet...

The Roomster is another obvious flop. Design a car which looks as though the monkey took the bits out of the box and the results are inevitable - it just doesn't matter how good it is - it's a **** up.

Our Czech friends make an excellent job of screwdrivering these cars for VAG but the best assembled car won't sell if it's not perceived to be right for the job - either because it looks like a greenhouse assembled without the plans or because the model mix and marketing strategy are wrong. Selling D segment cars to an image sensitive market might just be the wrong idea. Selling useful D segment sized vehicles to a market which is sensitive to value for money could be a very good idea.

The trouble is, VAG are too greedy - the useful D seg vehicles have VW and Audi badges and there are hundreds of them around. The fact that you see about 3 old model Passat diesel estates to any other form of Passat should have told them that. Volvo knew all about that too - when did you last see a (proper) Volvo saloon?

rotodiesel.

a valid points but round here most passats are saloons and lots of volvos are too. i see S40s, S60s and a few s80s. I stay local a lot and dont drive much on motorways so maybe thats why I see a different picture

I personally dont care who the car is marketed to and what segment it is in - i buy because I like it.

I also have an Audi and swear by Audis except there isnt a new model that suits our requirements at the moment - they are simply stupidly expensive brand new. I will say thought you do get what you pay for - having taken the stereo out and dimantled part of the dash i install an ipod adapter in both my passat and audi I can tell you that the audi is built like a tank and uses much higher quality materials. its more awkwar to route cables as the trim is so robust compared to the VW.

however the equivalent audi to my superb would have been at least 32k !!! not an option as for that price i got my superb and my audi A4 cabriolet !!!

The Volvos I'm referring to are the old RWD pre Ford models - 940 and the like.

I would agree - the Audi trim is made to a high standard but I've seen some very sloppy assembly on cars with both VW and Audi badges.

Other than a (tiny) paint run, I can't fault the assembly of my Superb and I've had the back end apart to fit a tow bar and the front end extended to change the belts - so I've had a good look at it.

rotodiesel.

All I did was make an observation!

Anyway, here's the best-looking Superb II in Switzerland.

Ray

I've seen a couple on the road now, and I must say I love the look of em

hmmm...I thought the old volvo market had all died of old age

Seriously though I get tons of stick but they all shut-up when they get in it. Sure its not marketed properly but VAG have no interest in hurting the other brands.

They don't want to worry Audi or VW where most of the numbers come from, they have Seat for the younger "sporty" market. Leaves you needing a nice solid brand for fleets, cops and taxis which is who buys the octavia, roomster and superb.

Fabia fills the nice small car market for sensible people who don't want the woeful Polo.

Its a niche product the new superb and I'm quite happy to laugh at idiots paying 4 grand more for an equally specified but still smaller and duller Passat.

I am going to run mine until bits start falling off it and i am loving every mile:D:D:D