[TusharK]

Skoda has reduced the prices of the Rapid diesel by up to Rs. 1.58 lakh. The automatic variants get a price cut of up to Rs. 1.56 lakh.



Additionally, Skoda is also offering a 5 year warranty and a 4 year service package at a discounted price of Rs. 33,333. The revised prices are valid till November 30, 2019.

The Skoda Rapid is powered by a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine that puts out 109 BHP @ 4,000 rpm and 250 Nm @ 1,500-2,500 rpm. Transmission options include a 5-speed manual or 7-speed DSG automatic.

Variant-wise revised ex-showroom prices:

Active - Rs. 8,99,599

Ambition MT - Rs. 9,99,599

Style MT - Rs. 11,15,599

Ambition AT - Rs. 11,35,599

Style AT - Rs. 12,43,599

Source

Link to Team-BHP News

[condor]

That's huge ! Is this an attempt to clear stocks before BS-VI kicks in ? And how big a stock is Skoda sitting on ?

Also wonder what happens to the used car market for Rapid ? A hefty 1.5L cut there too ?? Buyer's market if that is the case.

[itwasntme]

Is this a case of formalizing the discounts or a real cut with further discounts on top? I'm assuming there is a heap of stock making Skoda India nervous as time is flying!

[anandpadhye]

And yet the AT starts at whooping 11.35L ex-showroom? That translates to what 13L on road Pune? Man! Over last 10-15 years cars have become so expensive for what they offer! And salaries have remained more or less the same! A fresher joins Tech Mahindra at what 3L? No wonder auto industry is in a slump.

[Chetan_Rao]

You know pricing has reached insane levels when a C-segment sedan, that's literally the same car nearly a decade after launch except a few cosmetic and cabin feature 'upgrades', was close to costing double the launch price before receiving a 'discount' to move stock that'll become obsolete in a few months, not because the manufacturer thinks it's a fair price.

[PrasannaDhana]

I was offered brand new Ambition diesel variant for 11.5 lakhs OTR. It came to 2.2 lakhs off from actual OTR price.

It is indeed a vfm product when compared to the mediocre polo GT TDI which is essentially a much less practical car from one segment lower, and caries a sticker price of 11.5 lakhs OTR without any discounts whatsoever, as though it is some niche offering.

[AnandB]

VW has been trying clearing their stock and Skoda had to go in too. I got quoted 14.6 OTR for Vento diesel Highline+ DSG today. Have asked the Skoda guy for his quote of Style TDI DSG. Tbh even at these prices i find they are expensive.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by AnandB

VW has been trying clearing their stock and Skoda had to go in too. I got quoted 14.6 OTR for Vento diesel Highline+ DSG today. Have asked the Skoda guy for his quote of Style TDI DSG. Tbh even at these prices i find they are expensive.

8 years back I bought my 148 bhp/320 Nm Cruze LT for 14.64 OTR in BLR! And IN car manufacturers wonder why car buyers are not lining up to buy sacred offerings like these :-)

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

8 years back I bought my 148 bhp/320 Nm Cruze LT for 14.64 OTR in BLR! And IN car manufacturers wonder why car buyers are not lining up to buy sacred offerings like these :-)

That is actually because of India's very high currency inflation. Your 14.64 lakhs in 2011 is equivalent to 23 lakhs today.


https://www.inflationtool.com/indian...amount=1464000


I know its hard to believe but cars made in India are actually very cheap compared to what you would find outside due to our government's lax and outdated standards which lets manufacturers skimp out on a lot of stuff. CBUs and luxury cars are an exception due to the very high taxes applied on them. 10 lakhs inr is about 15k usd, try seeing what your options are for a new car in the US with that budget. Over here its enough to get you a car with a touchscreen, backup camera, steering controls, automatic climate control and a lot of other convenient features. Over there, you won't even get power windows for that budget on a new car.

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

That is actually because of India's very high currency inflation. Your 14.64 lakhs in 2011 is equivalent to 23 lakhs today.


https://www.inflationtool.com/indian...amount=1464000


I know its hard to believe but cars made in India are actually very cheap compared to what you would find outside due to our government's lax and outdated standards which lets manufacturers skimp out on a lot of stuff. CBUs and luxury cars are an exception due to the very high taxes applied on them. 10 lakhs inr is about 15k usd, try seeing what your options are for a new car in the US with that budget. Over here its enough to get you a car with a touchscreen, backup camera, steering controls, automatic climate control and a lot of other convenient features. Over there, you won't even get power windows for that budget on a new car.

You actually saved me a lot of time as I was typing the same thing. Why aren't people able to grasp the concept of inflation?

Its not like the factory workers, engineers, electricity bills, raw materials stay stagnant forever. If I am not earning the same pay I used to 10 years ago how can I expect anything sold today to cost the same as its 10 year old self?
As overheads vary so does the pricing.

Its another matter that our purchasing power has gone down the hill so everything seems expensive.

[ZenMaster]

Seeing how the car market is highly affected by people's ability to afford and how this discussion seems to be going, it would be great if the Numbers Gurus on our forum could start a thread going into depth how the purchasing power of Indian consumers especially the typical salaried indian Youth today(Mostly B.Tech graduates ) have been affected by inflation, lack of job opportunities, stagnant (if not falling in actual value) salaries etc.

I mean 3 lakh annual starting salary most college graduates get is probably not even worth half what it was 10 years ago.
Add to that the increasing cost of everything l , who can even think of affording a car?

[WorkingGuru]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

...Why aren't people able to grasp the concept of inflation?

One strong reason I have figured is that prices of retail FMCG commodities don't seem to have increased to a similar extent.

People created earnings aiming at increased purchasing power, however the YoY escalation covered the cost of the aspirational product only at a historical cost, not at NPV.

Its not like the factory workers, engineers, electricity bills, raw materials stay stagnant forever. If I am not earning the same pay I used to 10 years ago how can I expect anything sold today to cost the same as its 10 year old self?
As overheads vary so does the pricing.

Its another matter that our purchasing power has gone down the hill so everything seems expensive.

Frankly, incremental costs to a company aren't the major reason for escalation of prices as much as it the companies ability to extract the higher prices from the consumers.

What I'm saying is that the company may find labour at the same price as 7-8 years back (because food inflation may be low), and may find other raw materials barely increased by a fraction as the supplier would've been able to extract production at very low marginal costs thanks to having recovered depreciation on the machines involved, while they were still capable of functioning reliably.

[Vipin Kumar]

Style MT at 11.15? I was seriously considering Rapid exactly six months ago, and they were not ready for any discount beyond INR 15000. The Ex showroom was something like 12.70 then. The cut should be a little more than 1.58 (?)

I think Skoda is clearing the stock. Considering their sale, it might take more time to sell off all that they have in the inventory.

We have to remember that this cut is applicable only on diesels. They probably do not have an immediate BS6 diesel engine to replace the existing 1.5 TDI. And the 1.6 TDI which is going to be there in Kamiq is yet to be indigenised for India (or it might not make it to India at all even in Kamiq here). Importing this 1.6 TDI for using it in the existing Rapid may be an expensive affair.

Alternatively, there were certain schemes in Skoda earlier, like get a diesel car at the price of the petrol one, etc.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

Its not like the factory workers, engineers, electricity bills, raw materials stay stagnant forever. If I am not earning the same pay I used to 10 years ago how can I expect anything sold today to cost the same as its 10 year old self?
As overheads vary so does the pricing.

Frankly, this is actually an 10 year old product that has recovered its original R&D cost (probably biggest investment) multiple times. If this was all new product made for 2020 then there wouldn't be much of a debate I think. Even vendors would be more than happy to supply the same parts for over an decade!

Skoda just wants to keep their business floating by giving the dealers fat margin to compensate for low numbers. With cars like Seltos few thousand INR away(before this discount), it would be hard to sell such a model.

[digitalnirvana]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

And salaries have remained more or less the same! A fresher joins Tech Mahindra at what 3L? No wonder auto industry is in a slump.

Sorry for being OT but couldn't resist replying

I joined at less than 2.5 L 13 years back. I'm still with the same organisation (can't / won't take names) so anyone's guess how much my current pay is! It's fair to say that any low-mid range car would be most of my annual salary. That's overwhelmingly depressing whichever way I look at it.

Don't think I'll be able to afford buying a new car outright in my lifetime.