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Old 31st October 2012, 23:59   #2686
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

When 9 out of 14 manufactures are having less than 5% market share in one of the growing economies despite having varied segment of cars, I think it is not fair to speak in extremes for selected few. Whilst FIAT/SKODA with market share of 0.4%-1.1% are butchered, praising Honda (2.56%) or VW (2.4%) isn't fair. I guess we may need to have periodic poll or realtime statistics like % of owners of a particular brand of car who are happy with it and not happy with it.

Having said this, I ain't saying Skoda's move to eliminate discounts is good. Wish them luck...

Only thing I feel by seeing the statistics month on month is, if most of these brands are not able to sustain and hence leave the country, will we go back to the days of limited models (Ambassador/Premier Padmini/Standard 10)... Dont we need the opportunity to try all the brands in our country itself rather than having to do these only while stepping out...
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Old 1st November 2012, 05:14   #2687
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

Well not sure if I agree or disagree with the price cuts. Similar to our countries subsidy problem, Discounts in my opinion are not sustainable long-term solution.

So, if there were no price cuts - would i have been able to buy the vRS - Probably not. But i would have definitely bought the 1.8 Tsi - Ambiente. Why? Because in my opinion there are no other cars in that price range which offers the thrills along with the rigidity of the Laura. Skoda makes good cars.

The assumption that after-sales service is directly propotional to sales numbers is an interesting one. If true, we should see VW numbers fall very very rapidly over the next few months. Judging by the recent reports on our forum they seem to have taken over from Skoda as the champions in disgruntling the customer.
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Old 1st November 2012, 09:37   #2688
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

I sense something deeper afoot. Skoda may 'drop' prices after removing discounts. They are into serious restructure mode with emphasis on after-sales service. There were/are many things wrong at Skoda and hopefully Mr. Rao is serious about sorting them out. He needs desperately to increase this 1% market share that he is just about hanging on to and I believe he is taking steps in the right direction.

And shankar, there really is no sense in trying to convince the non-believers every time. Its just a waste of your time and energy. Let each one of us be happy in his own paradise.
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Old 1st November 2012, 09:50   #2689
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

Quote:
Originally Posted by torquing_points View Post
This is actually a smart move. Think about it. If you're concerned about the horrid after sales, then no amount of discount will bring you in.
=======
Hey. Skoda. How about move your marketing genius to after sales. And move your after sales strategist to club bouncing.
Super like So apt that when it comes to job rotation, a lot of good companies actually move folks between marketing and sales just so that people get to see the other sides' perspective as well.

I for one see this as a good and smart move. The initial going would become tough but parent VW would be backing this strategy to the hilt. I agree that in same way the companies have to make money to continue to innovate and provide excellent on road cars and service.
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Old 1st November 2012, 10:26   #2690
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

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Originally Posted by gemi_kk View Post
Fiat is another brand, which has no service centres at all. Still there are few bashers for FIAT. Why?
Simple. While Skoda's market share in India is a tad bit above 1%, Fiat's market share is still struggling at less than 0.3%.

It's a matter of perception IMO. Tbhp has seen (and still is) the determined battle that Harish is putting up against Skoda India. Add to that, the "wise" instigation from Skoda India - that was in itself a recipe for building a widespread hatred across the forum. And yes, they do deserve it for what they have done.

Ask a Fiat owner why one still loves one's car? Even if it's a 118NE? It's a fraternity. Take out all Fiat sales and service centers and these guys would still be proud owners of Fiats happy and content with DIYs.

A friend's 1 year old Punto (stock) stalled by the roadside a month ago. He called me and from the symptoms he highlighted, it sure sounded like a weak battery. We somehow managed to get it to his parking lot and THEN started an epic saga which ended precisely last evening. Issue - a faulty alternator that was replaced under warranty FINALLY. The car was at the service center the whole month and the twerps were simply looking for reasons to charge the customer. Inspite of the battery being under warranty, they tried to cheat the customer saying battery warranties are only for 6 months and not a year.

Now, one can easily tell how many pages the thread would run into if the incident were to happen at a Skoda service center! While the gist of the matter is that such unscrupulous personnel are common to the industry, it is a select few who end up getting bashed every time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by torquing_points View Post
If you're only going by initial impressions and log term running costs aren't part of your decision metric, then you'll buy it even without a discount.

So the discount isn't helping substantially to convert non buyers to buyers.

Hey. Skoda. How about move your marketing genius to after sales. And move your after sales strategist to club bouncing.
Well said! This actually sums it up.

Coming back to the topic, YES! it may be a bad move by Skoda. But that's just on paper. The corporate discounts and "special" discounts and "secret" discounts (please don't tell anybody else saaaaar!) will continue. While there are customers who blindly run after discounts, there are a lot out there for whom the decision is spontaneous and then the war to convince conscience and better halves just gets desperate.
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Old 1st November 2012, 10:41   #2691
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

Quote:
Originally Posted by mempheS.D View Post
Simple. While Skoda's market share in India is a tad bit above 1%, Fiat's market share is still struggling at less than 0.3%

Ask a Fiat owner why one still loves one's car? Even if it's a 118NE? It's a fraternity. Take out all Fiat sales and service centers and these guys would still be proud owners of Fiats happy and content with DIYs.

A friend's 1 year old Punto (stock) stalled by the roadside a month ago. He called me and from the symptoms he highlighted, it sure sounded like a weak battery. We somehow managed to get it to his parking lot and THEN started an epic saga which ended precisely last evening. Issue - a faulty alternator that was replaced under warranty FINALLY. The car was at the service center the whole month and the twerps were simply looking for reasons to charge the customer. Inspite of the battery being under warranty, they tried to cheat the customer saying battery warranties are only for 6 months and not a year.
.
Well said. Its a matter of perception.

I guess, we need to wait and watch how they (VW) are going to play the game down the line.

OT: Sad to hear your friends experience.
 
Old 1st November 2012, 12:39   #2692
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

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Originally Posted by tosathyas View Post
I guess we may need to have periodic poll or realtime statistics like % of owners of a particular brand of car who are happy with it and not happy with it.
Excellent Idea. We should have a Half Yearly Poll on customer Satisfaction for each brand. It will be even better if the Forum can have something Like "T-BHP recommended Cars" just like the USA has the "consumer Reports" ranking for brands as well the best and the worst model from each brand based on percentage of people happy with their brands (with Minimum vote of 50 or so). It may not have the detailed predicted reliability as the criteria but can have perception based ranking based on Votes. Voters should be allowed to vote only for the cars they own so just one vote per person.
Why I am suggesting this because India Doesn't have anything like this and magazines keep rating each cars based on their perception without giving any absolute ranking.

Sample this.

The "NEW" Car Price Check Thread - Track Price Changes, Discounts, Offers & Deals-consumerreports.jpg

Mods, Hope you are listening


Last edited by anu21v : 1st November 2012 at 12:44.
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Old 1st November 2012, 12:48   #2693
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

Quote:
Originally Posted by anu21v View Post
Excellent Idea. We should have a Half Yearly Poll on customer Satisfaction for each brand. It will be even better if the Forum can have something Like "T-BHP recommended Cars" just like the USA has the "consumer Reports" ranking for brands as well the best and the worst model from each brand based on percentage of people happy with their brands (with Minimum vote of 50 or so). It may not have the detailed predicted reliability as the criteria but can have perception based ranking based on Votes. Voters should be allowed to vote only for the cars they own so just one vote per person.
Why I am suggesting this because India Doesn't have anything like this and magazines keep rating each cars based on their perception without giving any absolute ranking.

Mods, Hope you are listening
Actually this is an excellent idea. MODS: Can we even do an opinion poll on this to really check if members would like this poll? My vote is already a YES
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Old 1st November 2012, 13:03   #2694
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

I was waiting for the diwali time to bring home a Laura DSG and I think I need to hold on to my money for some more time and wait until end of the year to see if I find any luck with the discounts
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Old 1st November 2012, 14:11   #2695
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

I think it’s a good move. Maybe they have cleared most of their existing inventory.

They have a good product base. Cut back on discounts, improve on customer experience, and they will see benefits in the long run.
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Old 1st November 2012, 18:31   #2696
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

Not happy at all. I was counting on big discounts in Nov/Dec
I hope they atleast get the petrol version.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dkaile View Post
I sense something deeper afoot. Skoda may 'drop' prices after removing discounts. They are into serious restructure mode with emphasis on after-sales service. There were/are many things wrong at Skoda and hopefully Mr. Rao is serious about sorting them out. He needs desperately to increase this 1% market share that he is just about hanging on to and I believe he is taking steps in the right direction.

And shankar, there really is no sense in trying to convince the non-believers every time. Its just a waste of your time and energy. Let each one of us be happy in his own paradise.
I hope you are right. Toning the price on the Yeti will help its sales for sure. Also, at a superficial level Skoda seems to be trying to get the 'after sales' fixed. I hope they get it right.

Last edited by vij : 1st November 2012 at 18:41.
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Old 1st November 2012, 19:04   #2697
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Re: Skoda Auto India announces cutback in the discounts

It was mainly the Fabia on which they were loosing money. It price coupled with discounts was not working out for them. I don't see a correction coming for the Fabia. The rest just might get some love from Skoda.
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Old 2nd November 2012, 11:55   #2698
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re: The "NEW" Car Price Check Thread - Track Price Changes, Discounts, Offers & Deals

As a car buyer , its never good to hear that discounts are being curtailed , but Skoda is pretty confident from all the reading i have been doing plus the management is basing their decision on the numbers that they have seen.

Despite 2012 being a bad year for cars :-

Skoda's sales have jumped 24% to 17,015 cars in the first six months of the fiscal in an otherwise slowing Indian car market. The major rise came last month with sales booming 38% to 2,312 units even as car sales in India declined 5% to 1.57 lakh units year-on-year

Maybe they are considering a revision in prices , read somewhere else on this forum sometime ago that they are attempting to increase localization thus reducing costs

And anyway at the end of the day if it does not work out , they will take some egg on their face and revert back or simply make it sound like dealer discounts not manufacturer!
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Old 2nd November 2012, 20:37   #2699
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re: The "NEW" Car Price Check Thread - Track Price Changes, Discounts, Offers & Deals

Any idea about on-road Mumbai prices for the Figo diesel & Ritz diesel ?
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Old 2nd November 2012, 20:41   #2700
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re: The "NEW" Car Price Check Thread - Track Price Changes, Discounts, Offers & Deals

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Originally Posted by gemi_kk View Post
Sorry man!! Thats real bad on VW part.

I would advice you/your friend to try looking for some senior officials email id's of VW and drop an email to them. search in Team BHP. You will definitely find some people ID's.

Go to Facebook Volkswagen page and drop a complaint with details over there. This would work better. Saying this because some have tried and got some good response it seems.

Hi I could get the senior officials contacts and that's why I am posting here for some hints and Yes next is Facebook and Twitter.

Last edited by joshguy : 2nd November 2012 at 20:42. Reason: Spelling
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