And why??

Because apparently, it's going to be very expensive...in fact, more expensive than the 4-door Golf GTi! :eek:

The Golf GTi sells for about Dhs 110,000.00. We're looking at Dhs 130,000.00 for the Octavia vRS, and I'm thinkin' to myself that these people are either really messed up in the head, or they have a plan. They did mention to me the prices of parts are going to be pushed down 'drastically'.

I would have loved to take a test drive of the new vehicle...after reading quite a positive number of reviews, I thought maybe I'd give it a shot.

Odd that it would be priced above the golf , but there are plenty of people in Dubai that aren't exactly short of cash so it should find a few owners

You never know, by the time they get round to sending you the vRS they might actually know what options are available for it :eek:

Odd that it would be priced above the golf , but there are plenty of people in Dubai that aren't exactly short of cash so it should find a few owners

That's besides the point. Nobody here will pay more for a Skoda when they can get the VW for cheaper and it has a 'better' name. The mentality of the average person here is pretty much like that in England. I mean if the vRS cost you over 2,500 pounds more than the GTi which would you go for?

If I were to choose I'd take the Golf. It's a proper hatch, it's relatively lighter and it's a VW. No badge snobbery here. If they priced the two models the SAME, I would then most likely take the vRS. Why? Because it's an excellent car.

I was at the dealer's earlier talking to the workshop foreman, who just got back from Skoda Czech for training, and he is the one who told me they might not bring it because it's too expensive. And believe me, Dhs 130,000 is a lot of money here for a Skoda. You can buy a Mitsu Evo 8 brand new for that money. You can buy a Mini Cooper S Works brand new with that money as well (I've brought the MCS W purely for price comparison, and nothing else, I know it doesn't have 4-doors and VW build-quality. All I told him is they're really gonna have to bring their parts prices down and improve their marketing strategies if they're going to try and sell a Skoda sports saloon for that price, because as someone who has lived in this country for over 23 years, I pretty much know the way the system works and I know the mentality of the people. NO ONE (unless someone REALLY wants it and is willing to pay the price) is going to spend Dhs. 130,000 on a Skoda.

This dealership does have something that the VW dealer doesn't though....customer satisfaction is somewhere about 98%, where as the VW dealer surveyed somewhere in the mid-50s (IIRC).

but how is the Octavia marketed in Dubai, as a golf rival or a cheaper car from the class above (it's certainly big enough)? if it's the latter, it makes a little sense as it would be up against the (in Europe at least,as I don't know if the same cars are sold over there) , Mondeo ST220, Vectra VXR, etc in which case it is much more competitvly priced. Also what is the spec, it may find more owners if it is much better specced than the Golf too.

golf V gti 1355Kg

ovtavia vRS 2 1400Kg

not a great deal of difference in weight really, especially for the greater room and more stable handling fomr the slightly longer body