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Is it RS, or vRS?

spinifex
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spinifex Community Regular

spinifex

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Hi everyone.

Just curious how the flagship Octavia is marketed in different parts of the world.

Here in Australia, it's definitely just the " RS ", as per all ads and literature. Even the owners manual is just labeled as RS.

But I notice in various forums online that most users (who most happen to be overseas) are calling it the vRS - is it marketed as that in other countries, or are people just calling it that due to the carat symbol in the name?

My understanding was the "v" just represents the carat over the S in Skoda...... which is just to indicate pronunciation. But I could be wrong!

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Item Rising Star

Item

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I originally believed it to be VRS - "Victor Rally Sport" but have also seen it explained as the V representing the " ˇ " symbol seen in Skoda

 

My NZ model is listed on the Skoda NZ site as an "RS"

 

Skoda UK has them as vRS

 

Given that the "v" is lower case, the caron/symbol explanation would seem to make more sense...

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VRS230 Collaborator

VRS230

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I read somewhere it was to do with a legal battle with Ford over calling it just the RS.

 

They added the v to appease Ford but someone with more knowledge should be able to explain better  :notme:

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spinifex Community Regular

spinifex

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Found this on another forum - thanks to DarkShadow.

Regarding the v in vRS, this was explained in a letter from Skoda (below).

Skoda UK said:
Reference: SD-2010/04-006667


Dear Bertee,

Thank you for your letter dated 21 April 2010, regarding the meaning of Vrs

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your email but your question required a bit more research and I wanted to make sure that I gave you the correct answer.

After checking a number of websites I could see that there has been a lot of debate regarding the meaning behind the word Vrs and most people have got the rs part correct as being Rally Sport.

However it appears that no one has actually guessed what the V stands for and this is in fact the Diacritical mark you see above the S in Skoda.

Thank you for contacting Skoda Customer Services.


Kind regards

John Good
Customer Service Advisor

Skoda Auto Customer Services
[email protected]
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KenONeill Grand Master

KenONeill

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In the U.K. It is vRS for Victor Rally Sport. This came about due to Ford having trademarked The RS logo in the UK

Which is odd, since Porsche first used the RS title (to mean RennSport) in the 1950s.

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Jono Proficient

Jono

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I heard the v was homage to the founders or Laurin and Klement that became Skoda;  Václav Laurin and Václav Klement

 

I think that was the rationale circulated in the motoring press around the time of the rename.

 

 

 

I'm not actually convinced that some dude working at Skoda UK customer services is the final authority on it.

Anyone want to get in contact with Skoda Cz?

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octyal Proficient

octyal

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I was always led to believe that it was down to Ford having the trademark on RS. As has been said, other manufacturers use RS in their model line ups, but like Skoda, it's not just the RS, it's usually accompanied by another number or letter, and so gets around the trademark issues. Only Ford can have a pure RS badge (with no other markings). It's one of those urban legends that will never fade, and I don't think anyone will ever get to the bottom of it.

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spinifex Community Regular

spinifex

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All interesting responses.  Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

I find it odd that a brand could possibly trademark a simple combination of 2-letters, when it's been used on countless models of other cars in the past.

 

And why wouldn't they trademark it globally, instead of just the UK?

Must make things difficult having to do all the marketing and brochures/owners manuals reprinted with different model designators for different countries.

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LemonLime Collaborator

LemonLime

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All interesting responses.  Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

I find it odd that a brand could possibly trademark a simple combination of 2-letters, when it's been used on countless models of other cars in the past.

 

And why wouldn't they trademark it globally, instead of just the UK?

Must make things difficult having to do all the marketing and brochures/owners manuals reprinted with different model designators for different countries.

 

Having worked in the automated publishing industry, this is not hard at all. But, making sure all manuals have the same page and paragraph layout for all languages- that's the hard part.

 

Also I've noticed people in Europe calling it the RS so I guess it might be UK legal thing. Like Zootopia having to be called Zootropolis in the UK because some not-yet-built zoo grabbed a hold of that name a while ago.

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spinifex Community Regular

spinifex

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............Like Zootopia having to be called Zootropolis in the UK because some not-yet-built zoo grabbed a hold of that name a while ago................

 

Ahhh, that's interesting.  I never knew that.  Makes sense I guess, when it's a full "name" as such, but still find it difficult to comprehend how it can legally be allowed, when it's just 2 random letters, which don't in-themselves, make a normal word.

 

Anyway - it's answered the question for me.  Seems like UK is the only place that is committed to calling it the vRS - everywhere else just seems to be RS.

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pickard Contributor

pickard

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Just to chime in with a bit of related trivia:

 

The diacritical mark " ˇ " appearing over S in SKODA which inspired the "v" in vRS makes the "S" being pronounced "SH" as in "Shell", "Shop" or "Shine" as opposed to "Spot" or "Speed".

 

So it is "SHKODA", actually. :)

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Skyrat Contributor

Skyrat

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Just to chime in with a bit of related trivia:

The diacritical mark " ˇ " appearing over S in SKODA which inspired the "v" in vRS makes the "S" being pronounced "SH" as in "Shell", "Shop" or "Shine" as opposed to "Spot" or "Speed".

So it is "SHKODA", actually. :)

Definitely pronounced Shkoda, with the o sound like 'Bob' rather than 'toe'. Jusht a thought. I think it'd be shuperb if they got Sean Connery to do the narration for all their TV ads.

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