[avisidhu]

Yes agreed about the compact SUV, but it's a smart move to target the 10L plus segment. Just notice the increase in sales of vehicles at the 8-13L price point compared to 5 years back. With rise in incomes, the action will keep moving upwards. And people would aspire to own brands beyond Maruti/Hyundai/Honda.

Being a household name Skoda is well placed in this aspect, but only if they can sort out the teething issues.

[raaj.bhalla]

That is good news. Skoda Rapid (upcoming upgrade) is what I might go for post launch but little skeptical due to horror stories related to service shared on different threads on this forum. If they can actually improve the service, it will make it easier for me to decide.

Regarding positioning in 10L+ bracket, I remember in some interview on TV few months back, a top executive from Skoda mentioning that they want to position Skoda as a premium brand as compared to VW.

[RavenAvi]

What dealer network?

Skoda currently has 66 sales outlets and 74 service centers spread across India and no planned dealer expansion till 2018 (link). Unless they are transforming all of them into fully digital Nexa-esque outlets, I don't see where the 100 crores are going into. Sounds like a PR stunt to keep the investors interested, like the one GM pulled out about a year back.

With sales around the 1,000-1,200 units per month mark, they can touch 20,000 units per annum easily if they continue their current momentum. 300-400 units extra through a new Octavia variant, the Kodiaq and (possibly) the new Fabia is a given. Bigger question is - are they willing to increase sales? They launch the fantastic Superb earlier this year and promptly announce that there won't be any deliveries for 5 months?! (link) What other company does that?

And positioning Skoda as a more premium brand than Volkswagen? Come on! Everyone knows that the parent company will always hold the upper hand in this regard, even in shared badge engineering. For all the brickbats Volkswagen has been getting recently, it is still selling four times as much as Skoda.

And the lesser said about their service experiences, the better. The forum is littered with plenty of stories related to those.

No doubt they make some really fantastic machines - the Octavia, the Superb, the Yeti, even the Rapid. That's it. Everything else is pathetic.

Walk into a Skoda showroom today and then pay a visit to a Maruti/Hyundai showroom immediately after. You will see the difference - why the toppers are rightfully at the top, and why Skoda is languishing at the bottom of the pond.

[djay99]

That's good news. Skoda makes good cars but their service levels were not up to the mark and this made quite a few customers move away from brand.

Now this move might bring a few customers to their showroom but they have to bring new Car/SUV at right price point. If they are serious about India business then they have to allocate decent number of kits unlike Octavia/Superb which had high waiting time not due to demand but due to lower allocation.
Also VW is more premium than Skoda globally.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by djay99

Now this move might bring a few customers to their showroom but they have to bring new Car/SUV at right price point.
Also VW is more premium than Skoda globally.

In India Skoda will be projected as more premium than VW in the higher segment of vehicles while VW will have 'Premium' products in the mass market. A bit of overlap is bound to happen though.

Their next big launch could be the SUV - Kodiaq in 2018 while VW will lead the new products launches for India in 2018. ( Polo, Vento, etc)

[libranof1987]

First Ford with 200 crores and now Skoda with 100.

Have manufacturers finally realized that a big part why Maruti is so successful is their network?

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

What dealer network?

Skoda currently has 66 sales outlets and 74 service centers spread across India and no planned dealer expansion till 2018

This might just work in their favor; a smaller group is easier to work with on a turnaround.

As the article says,

"The company plans to invest Rs 100 crore in revamping the dealership network with new identity and introduce series of service initiatives to bring in transparency.

so a smaller scope will help them achieve this sooner.

And of course, they are targeting the 10-40 lakhs segment; they don't have any product below 10. Get the damn Fabia!

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

And positioning Skoda as a more premium brand than Volkswagen? Come on! Everyone knows that the parent company will always hold the upper hand in this regard, even in shared badge engineering. For all the brickbats Volkswagen has been getting recently, it is still selling four times as much as Skoda.

I am not sure about elsewhere but at least in India Skoda is perceived as a more premium badge than VW by many I know. Now its a bit difficult to believe this, but it is a fact. No one cared about the Passat when it was selling but many still perceive the Superb as a rich man's car. Similarly one person I know bought the new Octy over the Jetta even though I recommended the Jetta. He firmly believed the octy is a superior product with a greater snob value. Now I had no counter argument for this and he is a happy owner of a new silver colored Octavia.

So I kind of agree on the strategy of Skoda concentrating on the segment above 10L if that is what they are aiming for. Hell if they improve their A*S*S I myself would love to buy a Skoda.

[volkman10]

Skoda Announces 4 New Cars For India. Products to in 2017.

The first two are known - the new flagship fullsize SUV Kodiaq and the very hot and exciting RS variant of the Octavia and the Rapid facelift; details of one model have yet to be revealed. Will it be the Fabia?

And, in another move, Skoda Auto India will also make ABS standard on all its cars by December 2016.

First Q of 2017

In addition to these we will also get two cars from the range Skoda calls 'Action Models' - namely the Octavia Black Edition and the Rapid Monte Carlo Edition.

Rapid -Monte Carlo edition- EU



http://auto.ndtv.com/news/skoda-anno...atives-1439771

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by wilful

Skoda looks as if it's serious about the Indian operations after all. The above report says that they plan initiatives to revamp dealer network and service quality.

+

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Unless they are transforming all of them into fully digital Nexa-esque outlets, I don't see where the 100 crores are going into. Sounds like a PR stunt to keep the investors interested, like the one GM pulled out about a year back.

Gents,

I've just put up a more detailed report here:

LINK


Closing this thread