Škoda Laura - A Class of its Own!

[amit]

Do you think it is wise to compare other market scenarios when the Laura is priced differently here?

bombastic, I was not talking about pricing at all. I was trying to make a point that the 1.9 TDi with "just" 104bhp feels like it will be sluggish but it's not and to make that point I said I have driven cars with the same engine in countries where it's easier to sustain high speeds and never felt like the engine was struggling to move the car. Thats all.

Anyway, what I want to know is what pricing will VolksWagen have for their cars IF and when they launch them in India because Skoda is almost close to 20 lacs right now. Maybe VW wants to launch their cars with the 2.0 Tdi and hence skoda wasn't allowed to do the same. But I do know that these TDi Pd engines are bloody expensive to make for the manufacturer. Thats the only reason why VW will be switching to Common Rail engines in 2007. This is probably the last year of Pumpe Duse engines.

[MrBoombastic]

Originally Posted by amit

bombastic, I was not talking about pricing at all. I was trying to make a point that the 1.9 TDi with "just" 104bhp feels like it will be sluggish but it's not and to make that point I said I have driven cars with the same engine in countries where it's easier to sustain high speeds and never felt like the engine was struggling to move the car. Thats all.

Anyway, what I want to know is what pricing will VolksWagen have for their cars IF and when they launch them in India because Skoda is almost close to 20 lacs right now. Maybe VW wants to launch their cars with the 2.0 Tdi and hence skoda wasn't allowed to do the same. But I do know that these TDi Pd engines are bloody expensive to make for the manufacturer. Thats the only reason why VW will be switching to Common Rail engines in 2007. This is probably the last year of Pumpe Duse engines.

Same here! Deep down I always felt VW wants to keep the 2.0 engine and I also wonder what their pricing in India will be when the Skoda Laura is being sold at the price it is.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by MrBoombastic

Same here! Deep down I always felt VW wants to keep the 2.0 engine and I also wonder what their pricing in India will be when the Skoda Laura is being sold at the price it is.

haha .. sure won't be a People's Car !

[amit]

sure won't be a People's Car !

No it wouldn't. There are various reasons why a particular car maker turns into people's car maker in their country. Our people's car makers are Maruti and TATA while North America's people car makers are GM and Ford. VW's are expensive even by European standards but the people there are used to paying high prices. Mind you most western countries are highly taxed so you have to consider that aspect too. For example, the Golf Trendline with steel wheels cost about Rs.9 lakhs in Germany which is expensive even by German standards. Again, I have to add that most people equate VW to Golf but forget that the Golf is actually the 3rd car in their line up after the Fox and Polo. Anyone that knows German here can tell us what features the base models come with as standard equipment.

[amit]

Skoda sold more cars from Jan to Nov 2005 then they did in 2004. Sales are up 10.5%.

Škoda Auto has also earned itself better and better customers’ appreciation as regards car and service satisfaction.

Hmmm, service satisfaction isn't happening here in India.

[Insane Devil]

hey all,,

well this has been a nice discussion so far!
learnt a few new things.. .like, the thurst we feel is due to the Torque, (i always thought it to be associated to BHP) and the goodies of the PD engine.

1. Skoda is not launching the 2.0 lt PD Engine in the Laura in India currently as the 2.0 lt PD Laura wud then cost more than 20 lk, and they wanted to price it below 20Lk range. Maybe in the future, they might get an "L&K" kinda model in Laura where they may offer the 2.0Lt PD Engine.

2. Comparing an Automatic and a Manual transmission car is again not right.
Regd the Skoda Laura, the Automatic does 0-100 in 12.2 Sec. can someone plz quote the 0-100 in Manual Transmission, from last months Autocar Magazine, please.

3. In India, there are millions out there, I am one of them... who wud want a car which is very luxurious, with lots of features etc, but then, not too heavy on the engine as that wud give me lesser mileage! my next car , i.e after 3-4 years, will be the 5 Series BMW mostly, and even for that i wud go for the Diesel engine and the lowest powered Diesel engine they wud have, coz even the lowest powered engine of theirs wud still be far more peppier than the need be of. all i wud like to have in the car is great comfort and features. all the goodies! the Superb is coming with the 2.5lt V6 Turbo Diesel engine. where do u think in the city wud i ever be able to use that kinda power.
For the initial pickup, even the 90 Bhp Octavia Diesel is jus great! max, get a Petes box.
for some reason, i dont think that the Laura is "overpriced" in india. coz if that is the case, then even the Corolla, Camry etc are highly over priced.

[turboindia]

HI guys. WOW a solid thread on the Laura.

Just wanted to add that if power was the only worry keeping back anybody from buying the LAura you know where to look. A Pete's tuning box with 130 BHP and 300 NM torque or a Pete's remap to 150 Bhp with 320NM. Your choice.

As long as the indian market is concerned most of the international cars are overpriced. Compare the prices of the same cars here and anywhere else in the world. You'll mostly find it is way higher here. You cant help it. The numbers being sold are not enough for them to offer a lower price. We are but still lucky to atleast have all these cars here. As Rtech said it is a matter of personal taste. Everybody has a differnet perception of their car. If it suites your taste and style it is good for you. It may not be good for some one else. At the end of the day we all enjoy cars and be happy we have so many to choose from today.

I am taking the first LAURA from kerala next week. Will keep you guys updated on whether I fall more in love or whether it was just an infatuation.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by turboindia

HI I am taking the first LAURA from kerala next week. Will keep you guys updated on whether I fall more in love or whether it was just an infatuation.

What happens to your old OctyVrs

[Joz]

Originally Posted by ajmat

What happens to your old OctyVrs

Pete, heard the vRS crashed in Pune and is up grabs at 6 lakhs.

Please tell me i am wrong, as that was one hell of a car!!!

[turboindia]

We sold the car in STOCK condition for 11.5 lakhs.

[CaliforniaKnight]

Originally Posted by turboindia

We sold the car in STOCK condition for 11.5 lakhs.

In STOCK....does that mean you removed all the equipments your car had??
Is the car running in Kerla or did you sell it off Bombay aftre the testing??
BTW, when are you takin delivery of the Laura??

[turboindia]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

In STOCK....does that mean you removed all the equipments your car had??
Is the car running in Kerla or did you sell it off Bombay aftre the testing??
BTW, when are you takin delivery of the Laura??

LAura most probably next week end.

[aseem]

[SIZE=2]Like you said the first lot of the car is European spec, thats why you are getting headlight washing spray, its critical for European countries to clear the snow from the headlamps. I am pretty sure the second lot, the downsized desi lot wont have it. I cant imagine why car manufacturers, even the likes of Skoda, who sells cars nearly twice as much as they cost in European countries take Indian customers for a ride. Even cars like Santros come with Airbags as mandatory in Europe and at a cheaper price than Santros selling in India, even though their labor is more expensive than India. I think it has a lot to do with post imperialism syndrome.[/SIZE]

[extreme_torque]

Get this straight... the cars here are priced more than anywhere else... As an example Accord sells for less than 20,000 dollars in US... thats is around 9 lakh rupees. There are zillions more examples... but i dont wanna get into them... the thing is the indian government sux and still think that car is a luxury... when all those khadi clad babu's want Octy's and Safari's as their personal transport and PM wants a fleet of BMW 7 series's.

[amit]

I cant imagine why car manufacturers, even the likes of Skoda, who sells cars nearly twice as much as they cost in European countries take Indian customers for a ride.

If you go through the threads on Laura on this very forum, you will read many comments saying that 90% of the features in the Laura are something that we Indians can easily do without. Why blame car manufacturer's then?