VW have a few old brands that they could introduce for a budget car brand:

 

Auto Union, DKW, NSU, Horch and Wanderer,

VW have a few old brands that they could introduce for a budget car brand:

 

Auto Union, DKW, NSU, Horch and Wanderer,

Hope they'll be available in Cayenne Orange

 

Skoda can't keep up with current demand, so probably contributes to their shortfall on targets.

Making it more upmarket is like hitting a big nail in its coffin. It still has the stigma from the 80s so upping prices more is ridiculous

Be prepared to do a lot of DMF and turbo replacing.

If the car was only (the quoted price of) £2000 then I think I'd just buy another if either of those things went wrong! ;-)

They look the part but shocking under the skin

Mk 1 and mk 2 focus are both more reliable than a mk4 golf.

The mk 1 focus has stellar miles too.

Mk 1 and mk 2 focus are both more reliable than a mk4 golf.

The mk 1 focus has stellar miles too.

Bet it has rust though

New Skoda models are more expensive than the older ones they replaced already.

 

I'm not sure if my next car would be another Skoda, if the deals are not good.

 

If a Skoda is very close to a VW in price I would pick the VW

New Skoda models are more expensive than the older ones they replaced already.

I'm not sure if my next car would be another Skoda, if the deals are not good.

If a Skoda is very close to a VW in price I would pick the VW

Trouble is, VW prices have crept up rather close to premium brands such as Mercedes Bmw Audi etc now.

I went in to see about buying a Golf over Christmas and also went to spend time at bmw going over the One Series. VW were less helpful and had uncompetitive prices, deals and interest rates, bmw were spot on.

Bmw ( and perhaps therefore Mercedes as well )are able to offer premium service and experience without charging as much of a hefty price premium as they once did.

What Vag seem to want to charge for the cars, just doesn't match the experience they offer me at the moment.

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Bet it has rust though

My mates 54 plate golf has rusty front wheel arches and boot. He's owned it from new and it's never been involved in a collision so all original bodywork, at the minute the most rusty cars about are VAG. I say a 03 audi A4 the other day that had more rust than my first car which was a 12 year old favorit.

My mates 54 plate golf has rusty front wheel arches and boot. He's owned it from new and it's never been involved in a collision so all original bodywork, at the minute the most rusty cars about are VAG. I say a 03 audi A4 the other day that had more rust than my first car which was a 12 year old favorit.

 

 

 Little brother's MK4 1.8T had to have its tailgate replaced due to rust/ rot when it was six years old- the Mk3 Golf really highlighted VW as being anything but a reliable brand.

 

With VW announcing a slump in profits you'd think they'd have learned a lesson from charging big bucks for what are cars not spoken of in the same breath as BMW or Mercedes. VW were always well built and that is what the brand's kudos was. Okay there was some insinuation of premium but primarily they were solidly built. Outside of the 80s Golf there wasn't a great deal of high class in the brand. The Polo of the day was a pensioner special, the Jetta the ugly cousin and the Passat an option for those who were 'different'. They weren't mass market cars but they offered market differentiating products to people who liked the brand and knew a good thing when they saw it. It wasn't so long ago that the T4 was seen as an unwanted and unshiftable boat...

 

Ideas of grandure nearly sunk Peugeot and Ford soon abandoned the idea. Stick with what you're good at and don't alienate your client base- it seems so simple when you say it. VW are in great danger of destroying the fanbase around its products and driving people into cars offered by other manufacturers. 

Bet it has rust though

 

 

None at all actually, which isn't bad for an early 52 plate car, that's been running up and down the country in all weather.

 

Being an estate is missed the boot design issue, but that was resolved by the dealers on those that had it within the bodywork warranty.

I really don't get why people hate ford so much.

 

Cars look good, are no worse (Maybe better) in terms of reliability that VAG, they cost a lost less and you don't have to wait 6 months to get it.

Edited 13 March, 201412 yr by cheezemonkhai

 

I really don't get why people hate ford so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of what was wrong with Ford for a time was the dealer network. It drove the old man away from them and it did the same for me. Shoddy, rude, uncaring and ultimately a waste of time. It would seem its a trait that other brands have picked up on. 

Skoda have Black Hole ordering for UK Customers,

in 2013 Skoda sold or registered around 66,000 cars,

thats just near 1/2 of the Fiestas Ford UK registered in 2013

Skoda have Black Hole ordering for UK Customers,

in 2013 Skoda sold or registered around 66,000 cars,

thats just near 1/2 of the Fiestas Ford UK registered in 2013

Tell me about it. We cast the gearboxes for the Fiesta/Focus where I work and demand keeps going up. So much so we now have 2 machines making them

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My mates 54 plate golf has rusty front wheel arches and boot. He's owned it from new and it's never been involved in a collision so all original bodywork, at the minute the most rusty cars about are VAG. I say a 03 audi A4 the other day that had more rust than my first car which was a 12 year old favorit.

 

I'd say late 90's mercs take that crown

Ultimately all the brands have picked this us and I guess your brand comes down to the quality of the local dealers aftercare.

For example the local ford dealer is much better than the local Skoda dealer.

When you have to travel for an hour each way to another dealer to avoid the local one, it speaks volumes.

They have been getting costlier for some time now. I guess most people will probably look at used if can't afford new. Probably makes sense to let another person take depreciation hit unless you are on finance. I did hear that VW was thinking of a Dacia rival but think that idea has hit buffers. I do know that Skoda is seen as a Premium brand in some developing countries though especially India.

You can't call the rapid premium.

If VW can't hit the price point, perhaps they need to look at their business overheads!

I agree with you regarding the price point. I have not driven a Rapid but it comes across as a decent if uninspiring car. The trouble is that it is priced far too near the Octavia which is better looking, more spacious and has more modern engines. If the car was marketed at a few thousand pounds less than it is now, no doubt it would sell more. I for one have seen hardly any of them on the road.

I think customer satisfaction and expectations are key to building reputation. If the customer thinks he is getting a good quality product which is well built and nice to drive at a fair price, backed up with good customer care , then he will be happy and he will tell others. If however the customer pays through the earth for a car, is beset by problems and gets a crap customer service then reputation can be blown in a trice. Merc learnt that to their cost in the early noughties when bean counters slashed quality controls leading to rusty and unreliable junk at premium prices. They are producing decent cars again but it took time. Probably the biggest loser was GM in the US though whose arrogant attitude and pure focus on the bottom line produced crappy cars that nobody wanted to buy. Their ex VP Bob Lutz goes through the whole sorry mess in his book "Car Guys vs Beancounnters." (well worth a read) I'm not sure whether it is high overheads or optimism that is the cause. A company the size of VW which uses common engines and platforms (albeit set up differently) across brands has the benefit of big economies of scale.

Skoda I think is still riding high at the moment (though i have heard their customer care is slipping) but they need to be careful with their pricing so that it does not get too near VW and maintain customer care. Another thing they need to do is innovate more and carve out niches. Both the Mk 1 Fabia and Octy VRS were unique: one a quick diesel at a bargain price and the other a fast midsized car for the same price as a standard vehicle from the competition. The current cars are very near their rivals in terms of list price and the standards in those classes are high.

In regard to emerging markets it is different of course and based on income and the ability to buy a new car. A Skoda Yeti in India for example naturally makes more of a statement than here, especially when the quality is ao much better than the rather crude domestic Mahindra SUV. Then there is always the allure of foreign equalling exotic...

Skoda is hardly riding high in the UK selling/First Registering  66,000 last year, and 40 % of them were Mk2 Fabias.

 

They were kings of spin, and they sold good value Products,

they now need to get the Mk3 Fabia dead right from the off.

 

They need their Publicity & Media to sort out the Lost in Translation.

 

Because 'Emotional' and 'Squat', seems like poor Adman Speak Translated from one of the European Languages & probably not CZ.

 

Calling a Trim Level Sport & 'Monte Carlo; and adding some Plastic Trim, Sporty Seats

Decals & Alloy Wheels

is Dr. Winfried Vahland's Skoda CEO's idea of what the people want, or some of the people.

He seems to be Skoda's problem,

or actually VW Directors are Skodas problem.

 

Thoughts of decent Handling and any performance from small cars is Low in Skoda Uk's priority.

The Doctor Said, 'If they want a vRS they will just have to get an Octavia.

Yea but to be fair the Fabia VRS even in original Diesel form never did well anywhere but here. I think that as long as the new Fabia is well built, drives tidily and is competitively priced, then it should do well. I am not borhered

about go faster stripes or alloys at all: willing engine, tidy handling and good running costs are my priorities. I think people like Vahland have got their beady eyes on emerging markets and China above all. Sadly in this day and age there are very few "car guys" in top positions who factor in driving pleasure as a high point: the Ford Focus/ Fiesta being exceptions which have had their chassis tuned for dynamism along with maybe the new Golf (autocar's new best to drive hatch) and the MINI, which funnily enough i am trying tomorrow.

Skoda's recent advantage has been that the Skoda division sits outside the Euro currency area and therefore they could price the cars 20-33% lower than VW, Audi and SEAT cars.  If that maintains they they could still have a big price advantage over those car, including other German car companies.

 

The main threat to German companies comes from South Korean companies and in a few years time it will be from Chinese companies working through European acquired subsidiaries ie Citreon, Peugeot, Volvo where prices will look so much cheaper for a better equipped and eventually where the quality is there or thereabouts. 

For once I agree with you.

I had a hire xc60.

Very nice car, lots of toys, excellent engine, well put together and no more than a skoda...

This says all you need to know about VAG group's mentality;

 

 

 

 £200 in it from a mid-range diesel and a 220bhp rear-drive six cylinder. The Rapid is a prime example of how they're getting it wrong- SEAT are having a promotional £2500 off to make the Toledo more realistic. I know others on here have slated MG but its only a matter of time before the Chinese start to get it right (Indian investment for Jag has reaped dividends and it wasn't so long ago Hyundai built things like the Lantra) There is a real peril in the way VAG is moving- the Monte Carlo idea reminds me muchly of the Longbridge idea of adorning Rover 25s in lots of plastic to shift them. 

Edited 16 March, 201412 yr by sparks03

The Euro is so strong against the GB Pound hence expensive Euro-land.