Skoda Fabia 1.2L PETROL Launched

[joslicx]

can somebody confirm if these are really 1.2l prices or 1.4l prices!!!
I thought 1.2l wasnt offered in the high-end Elegante model. And 1.4l Petrol was only offered in the Elegante Model (So probably 8l is the price for 1.4l Petrol model)
Yes it is very expensive indeed.

[LLL]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

8.1 lakhs for the top model for a car having a 1.2 litre 3 cylinder petrol!!!! Thats bloody darn expensive no matter how good the features or the standards list is.

Do they know we can get a safari lx in less than that?

But i feel skoda is right in pricing these models. They are trying to position themselves as a premium brand and hence all their offerings are premium. Wont be surprised if OE mats, mudflaps cost 3-5k and each ORVM is 20k+ (just guesstimating..dont have the heart to call a skoda dealer and ask for the prices)

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by LLL

Do they know we can get a safari lx in less than that?

But i feel skoda is right in pricing these models. They are trying to position themselves as a premium brand and hence all their offerings are premium. Wont be surprised if OE mats, mudflaps cost 3-5k and each ORVM is 20k+ (just guesstimating..dont have the heart to call a skoda dealer and ask for the prices)

And a Safari EX for a little more.

[joslicx]

LLL/torque
Safari is a completely different car to Fabia sir! I wud love to own one but realistically speaking where I live and where I work, I'll have hell of a time parking it and negotiating it out of the parking! I still dont understand how do people maintain and manage these kind of cars in cities like Delhi!!!

Theres an another angle to look at it! Lets look at City ZX (NHC). A 77BHP car for almost 8+ lacs OTR in Delhi. This is just marginally better (9 BHP but its more heavier than Fabia as well so prob BHP/ton might be similar for both cars) but for 8lakhs still no Airbags/ABS/Sunroof/Parking Sensor? In all other aspects Fabia Elegante should be as good as City (only with a smaller boot). Still City is widely popular and highly selling model in India!
Prob Indian mentality is also changing a bit now. I bet if CRV was launched now (and if it was the same model as worldwide) it might have been a bigger success. One thing in favor of Fabia is its freshness (and that it is the same model in Europe as offered here unlike say our Fiestas or Aveo. Do people in US drive same Aveo as here?) In cities like Blore/Delhi/Pune/Mum etc there are lots of people (couples or small family people) who are in 10lakh+ earnings bracket. This car will appeal to them. A small comfortable hatch (with good space inside), great interiors (better than UVA or Swift any day) and good FE as well (for 1.2l engine... not sure about FE of 1.4l engine but Skodas are known for being frugal. I think it can match City's FE). ACI seems to think Fabia is selling quite well (latest issue!)
Unless GP/Jazz comes I dont see Skoda lowering Fabia's price. Even in case those models are launched, we might see same prices but prob more features thrown in (like Climate COntrol, better stereo etc)

[joslicx]

Sorry I meant Chevy SRV and not CRV!

[phamilyman]

joslicx, nice gyan you gave above.

I have one koshun for you: BOTH their models fall within the lower excise bracket - but their prices CLEARLY do not reflect that.

Any comments?

/he who has heard enough raves about the best build this side of deutschland/czech or of all farkles and then some more - but wants economic answers.

[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by joslicx

can somebody confirm if these are really 1.2l prices or 1.4l prices!!!
I thought 1.2l wasnt offered in the high-end Elegante model. And 1.4l Petrol was only offered in the Elegante Model (So probably 8l is the price for 1.4l Petrol model)
Yes it is very expensive indeed.

You are right. Among the petrol Fabias, only the 1.4 is available in the Elegance trim. It costs about 8L on road in Bangalore.

Definitely expensive, but the 1.4 TDI Elegance costs about a lakh more

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

You are right. Among the petrol Fabias, only the 1.4 is available in the Elegance trim. It costs about 8L on road in Bangalore.

Definitely expensive, but the 1.4 TDI Elegance costs about a lakh more

Forget any other car comparison, If I put couple lakhs more than the TDI, I will take away the Octavia Diesel.
Would a small family looking for a Fabia not go for Octavia with much more luxury and spending just 20-25% more.
Maybe we should catch hold of the pricing decision makers and ask them the questions to know what exactly was Skoda thinking.

[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Forget any other car comparison, If I put couple lakhs more than the TDI, I will take away the Octavia Diesel.
Would a small family looking for a Fabia not go for Octavia with much more luxury and spending just 20-25% more.

Well, I heard a few people mention this and therefore I did a comparison.

The top-end Fabia TDI (Elegance) costs about 9L on road in Bangalore. The cheapest Octavia TDI (Ambiente) costs about 12.5L on road with a 50K discount. So the price difference is approx. 3.5L. That's a lot of money. A very important point to consider is that the target buyers in this segment are people who can afford a sedan but want a smaller yet a luxurious car. Currently this is a very small set of people. But as our cities get more crowded, more people will opt for such cars.

But, I agree Skoda is expecting people to pay a very high premium. The prices will definitely come down with more competition.

I guess one reason Skoda took so long in launching the Fabia was the price. Same reason why Honda hasn't launched the Jazz all these years. I'm sure Honda and others are seriously watching what happens to Fabia.

[hondatoyotafan]

My Uncle recently bought the Fabia for the sake of buying an easily maneuverable car in the city. He already has an Laura and two safari's. The fact that the fabia is diesel and has great interior's is it's forte. By the way i forgot to add the premium image of 'Skoda' brand in India.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

joslicx, nice gyan you gave above.

I have one koshun for you: BOTH their models fall within the lower excise bracket - but their prices CLEARLY do not reflect that.

Any comments?

/he who has heard enough raves about the best build this side of deutschland/czech or of all farkles and then some more - but wants economic answers.

phamilyman Sir

I dont really have the answer for that question! Prob Skoda is pocketing the excise benefits (or probably the prices announced already have that factored in!) In any case its for Skoda to decide prices, not me or you! We'll know soon how good or bad they were with their pricing (if we start seeing hefty discounts in next few months).

Bottomline is except for Maruti & Tatas probably every other car company in India over prices its cars! (And that is why Maruti & Tata are volume sellers) We get City for 8 lacs that has no Airbags/ABS/Climate Control, Corolla for 9-10lacs (while it costs maybe 60-70% of that in US), Merc for 30 lac+ (again twice as much as in US/Europe).

My theory is that the company is heavily banking on people going for smaller,safer,comfy hatches as cities become more and more crowded. Once Nano comes in market can you imagine how bad the road congestion is going to look like. I know that we in India have a very favorable opinion about three box sedans (over small hatches) but it probably will have to change as people become more pragmatic in future. Honda & Toyotas didnt have this kind of product so far but they are now entering in as well coz they also have realised it! The grand success of Swift is an indicator that people are willing to shell out more for smaller cars as well (Although we have had failures like UVA & Getz as well but these two really lack freshness... Chevy & Hyundai should replace them with their contemporaries from the western world. UVA has such boring & bland interiors for a 5 lac car and Getz is really too old now!)

[naikpranav]

I went to the showroom to buy the Octavia, but, ended up buying the Fabia. It's smaller, the measurements of the boot are fine for even a long trip, its comfortable, its fast. I dunno why people think its underpowered. Drive it, you'll never feel that way. Its basically an octavia without a boot and 500 cc lesser. Besides, if you are saying put 3.5 L on top of the 9L to get an octavia, you still won't get parking sensors, sunroof, and other bells and whistles in the fabia Elegance. So you'd have to put about 5.5L more to get the LnK, which didnt make much sense to me, coz im aiming for a BMW 3 series next. All I need is a good car, not a car with a "Dicky" which ill never use.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Forget any other car comparison, If I put couple lakhs more than the TDI, I will take away the Octavia Diesel.
Would a small family looking for a Fabia not go for Octavia with much more luxury and spending just 20-25% more.
Maybe we should catch hold of the pricing decision makers and ask them the questions to know what exactly was Skoda thinking.

Well, this you can say about every car as now we have so many options available in India. If you go out to buy a City and add 1 lakh more you can drive out with a Corolla/Cedia. If you go out to buy a Corolla you add ~1 or 2 lakhs more and you can buy an Octavia/Civic. If you go out to buy Swift, add 50-60k plus and you can buy a Dzire!!!

At least for all sub-10lakh cars this argument holds that if you can add a couple of lakhs more you can always buy a more luxurious/bigger car!

[mail2gaurav]

I just test drived a Fabia elegance today, well the interiors are very swanky and full of luxury features but I was dissapointed with the performance, the car just does not pulls at lower revs, with the A.C on its gives up on 2nd gear as it slowes down a bit, my Alto performs better under these conditions.

I was actively considering Fabia before the test drive, but my immediate decision after the test drive was NO, dont know if we can get a luxury hatchbacks with good performance ?

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Bottomline is except for Maruti & Tatas probably every other car company in India over prices its cars! (And that is why Maruti & Tata are volume sellers) We get City for 8 lacs that has no Airbags/ABS/Climate Control, Corolla for 9-10lacs (while it costs maybe 60-70% of that in US), Merc for 30 lac+ (again twice as much as in US/Europe).

All Maruti small cars are overpriced with the possible exception of Swift. They have always been for the old zen days.