I priced a similar spec Golf GTi when I was looking at the VRS and it as £6k more.

An Audi or VW doesn't cost that much more than a Skoda to make. Obviously VAG would rather we all bought Audis to maximise their profit.

I think at the moment VAG as a whole is a bit confused. You can buy a base golf cheaper than a Focus but you can pay more than £20k for an Octavia.

I don't think Skoda steals many sales from Audi, if you can afford a new Audi then I doubt you're going to worry too much that you can get the same spec for £10k less. But if you're just looking for a car, a reliable A-B motor that doesn't need to be that interesting when you previously would have walked right up to VW and bought a 1.6 Golf now you can get an arguably better car cheaper at Skoda. I think it's in that 'dull but reliable' segment that VW is losing sales.

It's not the just the spec of skoda cars it's the dealers too. VW and Audi just have worse dealers - backed up year after year by JD power surveys - premium brands, budget dealer network.

I don't know how much Skoda are taking VW sales but don't forget Skoda are making inroads in China and India where VW isn't too much of a force and VW have a big US market where Skodas aren't sold at all.

There does seem to be an element of trying to identify VW as cutting edge and Skoda as previous generation tech in the last couple of years.

Take the facelift Octy VRS and the Golf Mk 6 GTi. I've read more than once that the Octavia is based on the Mk5 rather than Mk6 platform...yet what's the Mk6 Golf but a facelifted Mk5!

As the petrol FL VRS also has the latest cam chain engine and the XDS diff etc I'm not sure what further improvements the Mk 6 Golf has.

I don't think anyone has mentioned it in this thread yet, apologies if I've missed it. The term that VAG have coined for their plan to make Skodas seem less desirable is 'decontented', it's very real, some senior cheese at VAG has been quoted on it.

I suspect a Yankee speaking person must be employed somewhere in VW land

Decontented indeed.

I for one am discontented wit der decontenting

Edited 1 February, 201115 yr by dieseldogg

While Skoda as a separate entity may be making a profit it doesn't mean that within the context of the greater group it isn't causing a loss. Perhaps what's actually being meant is that it causes a loss for the larger group in the sense that their overall profits are reduced compared with what they could have been if Skoda hadn't taken sales from the Audi and VW brands.

if u look at it that way - yes, as they'd invest/research more into Audi & VW.

After the last VAG AGM, It was identified and mentioned that VW are loosing sales mainly of the Polo to Fabia, as mentioned above along with

1- all the +'ve results from JD power

2- The awards that Skoda have been picking up

3- The biggest 'eye opener' for customers was the value for money of the cars

4- Badge is no longer a consideration.

I whole hartedly agree that VAG need to seriously look at what is wrong with the VW and address that issue.

Anyone with common sense in business does not devalue a product to decrease sales, that is commercial suicide, customers will defect to other brands.

i've heard that too.

i won't b surprised if they're losing sales with their other makes.......

- Polo losing to Fabia

- Golf/Jetta losing to Octavia

- Passat losing to Superb

I don't think anyone has mentioned it in this thread yet, apologies if I've missed it. The term that VAG have coined for their plan to make Skodas seem less desirable is 'decontented', it's very real, some senior cheese at VAG has been quoted on it.

Wasn't that the term Toyota used when they decided their cars were better than they needed to be a few years back and decided to make them more cheaply to increase profits. I think the Paseo coupe was an example of this. It was all about quality of hinges and the like.

This wasn't very successful and it would be a shame if VW went further down that road with Skoda.

I'm not sure I'm convinced that this is happening however since if anything Skoda seem to have the latest VW engines etc these days, more so than in the past when the basic models had some rather ancient 8V 80s stuff.

I'm not sure I'm convinced that this is happening however since if anything Skoda seem to have the latest VW engines etc these days, more so than in the past when the basic models had some rather ancient 8V 80s stuff.

Well for starters, it's only been quoted fairly recently, so no big changes have been made yet. But they're certainly considering it. I think it will be little things like interior vanity mirrors down to one, take away the umbrella in the Superb (already done?), cigarette llighter (already done I think) in Octavia.

They can chip away with little impact, but people like us will know.

Maybe I didn't word what I was trying to say too well.

Skoda doesn't make enough profit to offset potential losses at VW.

Now also add in that the Czech Koruna is irsing against the Euro - so production becomes more expensive in the Czech Rupublic.

Now also add in that Skoda have significantly increased wages - to reduce the divide between itself and VW.

So "generally speaking" Skoda is just a bit of an issue for VW.

A friend of the family has a new model passat & is a proper anti skoda snob! when i had my mk1 octy vrs he was always taking the p*ss & slagging off my car,when i got my mk2 octy vrs i called round & he said "glad to see you have got rid of that bag of sh*te skoda & bought a proper car......they are nice them new bmw,s!"..............ive never been so insulted,thinking my skoda was a beemer! He was mortified when he realised it was a skoda!

Well for starters, it's only been quoted fairly recently, so no big changes have been made yet. But they're certainly considering it. I think it will be little things like interior vanity mirrors down to one, take away the umbrella in the Superb (already done?), cigarette llighter (already done I think) in Octavia.

They can chip away with little impact, but people like us will know.

I think the cigarette lighters have been disappearing from nearly all car brands and its more to do with people not smoking any more than anything else. Certainly my previous 2005 Volvo had one of those black plastic plugs in the socket rather than a lighter. As most cars don't come with ash trays it makes a lot of sense.

Skoda's already have a degree of low rent parts IMHO. I bet the Golf has gas struts to hold its bonnet up rather than the simple old school prop you get with the Octavia, and the grab handles aren't damped either.

Those two examples don't bother me in the slightest if it means a much better price, as I never use the grab handles and I can cope with the bonnet. Hopefully I won't be opening it much.

A friend of the family has a new model passat & is a proper anti skoda snob! when i had my mk1 octy vrs he was always taking the p*ss & slagging off my car,when i got my mk2 octy vrs i called round & he said "glad to see you have got rid of that bag of sh*te skoda & bought a proper car......they are nice them new bmw,s!"..............ive never been so insulted,thinking my skoda was a beemer! He was mortified when he realised it was a skoda!

Bet it put a smile on your face

I don't think anyone has mentioned it in this thread yet, apologies if I've missed it. The term that VAG have coined for their plan to make Skodas seem less desirable is 'decontented', it's very real, some senior cheese at VAG has been quoted on it.

Well here's the beginning of it...

http://www.arnoldclark.com/skoda/

AC a byword for sh|te service, aggressive sales tactics and dodgy motors.

Well here's the beginning of it...

http://www.arnoldclark.com/skoda/

AC a byword for sh|te service, aggressive sales tactics and dodgy motors.

You've lost me!

You've lost me!

AC = Arnold Clark !!!!!

AC = Arnold Clark !!!!!

Whats Arnold Clarke got to do with Skoda having alot of standard equipment

AC = Arnold Clark !!!!!

Well durr! I know! But what has Arnold Clarke go to do with anything?

Arnold Clark are a very large dealer group in Scotland. They do not have a good reputation for customer service and if they now have a Skoda franchise then it is hard to believe Skoda customers will be treated any differently from other brands. Hence a "downgrading" which ties in with at least one theme of this thread which is VAG making the Skoda proposition less attractive.

I remember going into a non-AC dealer when I was looking to buy my Scout, and the salesrep saying that Skoda was such a reputable brand they refused to allow Arnold Clark a franchise. So is this the beginning of the end???

Prior to purchasing the Scout we went to AC's Glasgow super store just off the Expressway, SWMBO'd and I were just seeing what cars suited our needs. In the ten minutes we were sat in a second hand Mazda 6 Sport we had been approached by no less than four salesmen, one of whom stood outside the door waiting to pounce. SWMBO'd merely enquired as to how much the original price of the Mazda was, and before her perfectly proportioned derriere had even touched the seat fabric, the salesman brought out the paperwork to purchase the car and started quoting finance figures. The look on her face was a picture. Me? I was rolling on the floor, as I had previous experience of AC's 'Pressure Selling Techniques'!

Unless they offer the absolute maximum off, and you take your car for servicing and warranty work elsewhere, AVOID!!!!!!!!!

my 1.8TSI ELEGANCE in Greek drive away specs.

SWING RADIO-CD

no dimming mirror

no rear wiper

no parking sensors (after market installed for 20 quids)

standard ESP

no Xennon lights

yes to jumbo box

yes to MAXI DOT

alarm as gift(around 300GBP)

external GPS as gift (140 GBP)

Simple solution

Drop the price of the Audi's.. They are way over priced anyway

Yes, but some people buy things mainly because they are dear, not because they are wortth it or do the job better.

Otherwise designer goods would not exist and I would not keep getting pestered with "Buy Rolex" spam emails.

I remember going into a non-AC dealer when I was looking to buy my Scout, and the salesrep saying that Skoda was such a reputable brand they refused to allow Arnold Clark a franchise. So is this the beginning of the end???

Did AC not have a bunch of franchises taken off him in the past 2 years. The manufacturers pulling the plug?

I met the old codger once, gave me some mats for my wee Corsa SXi after the salesman pulled a fast one at sale time. Fixed the problem i suppose but i doubt i'd ever buy from them again after that salesman's sharp tactics with other stuff too.

Just watch the price of our cars start creeping up to VW prices :wonder:

Hmmm... :think:

So you think VW would shoot themselves in the foot by putting the price of Skoda's up or by devalueing the brand? Would be bloody stupid if they did either, because surely selling a car from one of the their subsiduries is better than loosing a sale to someone else?