Team-BHP - Skoda Blitz is now the Rally Sport

Mindless pricing.

Tell me why would anyone want to pay Rs. 3.75 lakhs extra for the Blitz over the Ambiente or Rider. And all of that just for a lil' more horsepower? Why, anyone who has an Ambiente can source a chip for a 1000-1500 pounds for similar performance, spruce up the exteriors for another 50K with body kit and alloys and fogs and spend another 25-30k on leather seats. 40k for a real good music system. And thats it.

All of which for atleast a lakh rupee less than the Blitz and similar performance. Why oh why does Skoda think that it can take the Accord head on with this car.

Remember 1996 when Skoda wanted to get the car to India for Rs. 6 lakhs with that 1.6 litre engine? And now look at their top of the line Octavia... it retails for a full 16 lakhs. Skoda needs to understand, going all over the top with such pricing will deter even the most seasoned buyers. Even classy advertising then won't save you.

My fear is with Skoda going the HM way. HM and its brilliant product the Lancer today are relegated to the last position. Overpricing and no proper pricing policy in India means sure failure. Skoda hasn't improved its basic product, the Octavia in its 3 years of existence other than just offer variants. Its the same route that HM took with the Lancer and look at where it is today. 6 years later that 1.5 engine still soldiers on even when the market has rejected it.

I wouldn't be surprised if a year down the line, the prices of second hand Octavias crash through the roof leading to customer dissatisfaction who eventually would head to another brand. And with speculation that the next gen Octavia would be even more expensive, i see Octavia volumes falling in the future on a consistent basis, even if they plan to sell the old and new gen side by side as projected by Skoda India.

I just hope they don't do the same with the Fabia.

Revv

Revv

guys tell me onething, how many petrol skodas sell,
in south it's a almost 100% diesel skoda, you get petrol skodas(very rare to find in hyd, in the first place) for as less as 5 lacs!! here in hyd, that bad is the resale here for the petrol skoda

i dont think skoda will be affected much by this dud pricing,atleast in the south
as long as they dont fiddel with the diesels, they will be fine, let's see how they price the automatic diesel

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Revvmaster @ Aug. 25 2004,18:20)]Mindless pricing.

Tell me why would anyone want to pay Rs. 3.75 lakhs extra for the Blitz over the Ambiente or Rider....Why, anyone who has an Ambiente can source a chip for a 1000-1500 pounds for similar performance, spruce up the exteriors for another 50K with body kit and alloys and fogs and spend another 25-30k on leather seats. 40k for a real good music system. And thats it.

let do the maths....
lets say you get the chip for $600 (rs 30K)
add another 50K for the body kit
30K for the seats
and 40K for a stereo....
= 1,50K instead of 3,50K pricing between the Rider and the RS? so u save say 2,00K.

Q: who can do this? I dont know any qualified garages that I would trust to do this.

I have been trying to tell the powers that be in aurangabad that the RS should be about a Corolla E + 1,00K (seats, stereo, etc..). The Tdi auto should be priced liked the Corolla G and the L&K like the RS + 1,00K (actually they should discontinue the L&K with the RS having almost everything but the tan interiors and the 4 spoke steering wheel with controls.)

anyone know the Corolla E/G prices?

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (lamborghini @ Aug. 26 2004,10:53)]hi guys howz the skoda RIDER diesel...what will be the resale couple of years down the line....

the corolla should hold it's resale better. funny u compare the Tdi with the corolla pertol. the Tdi like most diesels is great if you run 100Km+ a day. then you get your money's worth.

the corolla pertol will be quieter than the Tdi. In fact the corolla pertol was quieter than the Octi 2.0. Not sure about the RS because the interiors have had a major face lift.

what l liked about the corolla.
sprited engine
good city drivability

what i liked about the Octi (Ambi/Elegance)
Solid built
Ride Quality
U can modify the stereo.

what i did not like on the Corolla
cheeeeap maruti 800 like antenna and you cant change the stereo or even add a amp with a speaker/line level interface.
body roll and unsure at high speeds (100kmph).
rear leg room
interiors were just barely ok (E).

what i did not like about both Skodas (Tdi and 2.0)
sluggish engine (no matter what your torque curve u cant replace horses)
interiors (even the elegance left a lot to be desired)
rear leg room

The corolla did score over the octi (tdi/2.0 ambi/elegance) in leg room and interiors but that does NOT mean the corolla was good. it was very avergage. the octi was below average.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]the corolla should hold it's resale better. funny u compare the Tdi with the corolla pertol.

Well, the Indian market being as it is - limited choice - buyers are forced to chose between this. I had a similar decision to make earlier this year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]the corolla pertol will be quieter than the Tdi. In fact the corolla pertol was quieter than the Octi 2.0. Not sure about the RS because the interiors have had a major face lift.

The Corolla is NOT more silent than the Octi. Maybe at higher revs, but during regular city use, the Octi is an extremely silent car, and I'm talking about the TDi here. Not sure where all the talk of the RS is coming from as there are no plans to launch that here.

The Corolla is a great car. Noting sells in such large numbers if its a bad product afterall. But, the Indian version has a terrible ride quality. I just recetly refreshed my memory with my friends Corolla. The darn thing drove like an Esteem, no kidding! Its really unsettling for a passenger in there cos the suspension is just way too stiff for Indian roads. After a 1 hour ride in the Corolla, the Octi felt like a magic carpet! That ride quality alone is enough to put someone off the Corolla.

Then there are the interiors. The Corolla looks good, but you can see where they've cheaped out on the quality. The windows seem like they are about to pop out of their rails when raised or lowered. The suspension was already knocking on my friends car which is 9 months old and done 10,000km.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]The corolla did score over the octi (tdi/2.0 ambi/elegance) in leg room and interiors but that does mean the corolla was good. it was very avergage. the octi was below average.

Well, the choice between the Octi or the Corolla is not as simple as it seems. However, I'm eager to know what car you prefer if you think the Skoda is below avg and the corolla is avg. The Elantra? The Optra?

Rt

well guys
the octi tdi is the one i wanna buy
its 13lak on road with alloy and interiors ( tan etc )
but will the octi diesel have a good resale say 4-5 yrs down the line ...
im intrested in the octi as i already have a corolla and its just awesoem but i dont want another corolla ...
so i w3as thinking along the lines of the octi diesel ( resale value of this car is better than the corolla currently )
guys please help

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (navin @ Aug. 26 2004,10:57)]let do the maths....
lets say you get the chip for $600 (rs 30K)
add another 50K for the body kit
30K for the seats
and 40K for a stereo....
= 1,50K instead of 3,50K pricing between the Rider and the RS? so u save say 2,00K.

Q: who can do this? I dont know any qualified garages that I would trust to do this.

Navin, that would pure academics... accepted that very few, if none can do the work, but rather than spend an extra 3.75 lakhs on that piece of extra kit i'd rather save it for the day when someone can really do that kinda work.

Its not about what Skoda is offering. Its the price. And at 15 lakhs plus, you are taking on the mighty Accord which does 3000 units a year and has completely whitewashed its competition. Who'd wanna put that kinda money on a car that is smaller and probably doesn't have the kind of snob value that the Accord commands. Not many.

Hell at 15 lakhs plus i get a car that develops 143 horses, has a beautiful chassis, has ABS, TC and the works and is big on the inside as well. That 150 horses on the Skoda just becomes a pure academic value.

Revv

After reading BSM review, i suddenly feel like the octy RS is not over priced! Imagine, a car thats faster than even the Corolla! Not to mention, it's better ride and handling and build quality. If indians weren't obssessed with the Honda and Toyota brand names to the point of blind faith/worship, I would have said that the corolla's days were numbered. But then who buys a corolla for it's performance?