[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Potential RS variant, now rendered in different colours by Rushlane -

[krsna777]

Originally Posted by furyrider

Unfortunately, our car buying population is not what I call mature.

Adding a perception.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Tkm

Why is it that while all team BHPians wax lucid about skoda cars the market outlook for skoda and VW is totally different.

I think it's perfectly normal that for most people, a car is just a thing that gets you from A to B. Just like how a washing machine needs to wash your clothes. Nearly every car you can buy on the market today does that basic job well enough and many people don't care beyond that.

This forum is home to nutjobs like you and me that spend many hours of life debating whether the accelerator pedal should be organ type or not so it shouldn't surprise you that we're not a representative sample

[motorworks]

I think Skoda and VW are doing something simply clever here!

Four cars—Kushaq, Taigun, Slavic and Virtus share engines and components, and not just this, even the body shell is essentially the same. If you look closely, the Kushaq and Taigun have all the main body panels like the doors, the roof, right from the A pillar to the C pillar are exactly the same.

Similarly, the Slavia and the Virtus are going to have identical body panels in most places.
So this is a bit like the Rapid and the Vento. But Skoda and VW have made extra efforts in ensuring that the interiors are completely different ( although you can still see a lot of shared components).

What this implies is that Skoda and VW have not pumped in a lot of cash in generating 4 cars. They have done some clever engineering and designing wherein they are able to share more than what meets the eye!

And I’m sure it’s only going to be a while before we see 2 more models, mostly under 4m crossovers, also based on the same platform and once again sharing body panels and the likes.

I think this is good for Skoda, some fair bit of variety is offered to the customer without really burning a lot of money!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by motorworks

If you look closely, the Kushaq and Taigun have all the main body panels like the doors, the roof, right from the A pillar to the C pillar are exactly the same.

True. Look even closer and even the sheet metal of the boot is the same, just clever use of tail-lamp plastics to make it look entirely different.

Looks to be the same case with Slavia too.

[Tkm]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I think it's perfectly normal that for most people, a car is just a thing that gets you from A to B. Just like how a washing machine needs to wash your clothes. Nearly every car you can buy on the market today does that basic job well enough and many people don't care beyond that.

This forum is home to nutjobs like you and me that spend many hours of life debating whether the accelerator pedal should be organ type or not so it shouldn't surprise you that we're not a representative sample

What an amazing and perfect reply
Yes, we are all passionate nuts and look into every detail
The routine customer would never do that

[abhi_ank]

My Skoda SA tells me that the Slavia is expected to be priced between 13 to 20/22 lacs. Not sure if he said that to deter me from postponing my planned purchase of the Kushaq, but this price band does seem ambitious. Also not sure if this was the ex showroom price or not.

[TokyoDrifter]

Originally Posted by abhi_ank

My Skoda SA tells me that the Slavia is expected to be priced between 13 to 20/22 lacs. Not sure if he said that to deter me from postponing my planned purchase of the Kushaq, but this price band does seem ambitious. Also not sure if this was the ex showroom price or not.

Knowing Skoda, it’s very much possible that it’s the ex-showroom price.

[ridehard]

Originally Posted by TokyoDrifter

Knowing Skoda, it’s very much possible that it’s the ex-showroom price.

That will be a win for City & Honda ! They will happily stay in the slumber mode for even longer then

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by abhi_ank

My Skoda SA tells me that the Slavia is expected to be priced between 13 to 20/22 lacs.

Had a chat with a Skoda SA. Had visited the showroom with a friend for him to check out the Kushaq. Few updates as I received.

• They mentioned a similar price expectation, on road. Unofficial of course! I got the feeling they are just expecting it to be priced parallel to Kushaq and haven't received any pointers from Skoda.
  
• Display vehicles are expected late Jan.
  
• Initially they were informed of deliveries starting late Feb. But now they're expecting the customer cars to arrive only by late March.
  
• As I mentioned earlier too - Bookings made via showroom is 100% refundable, but this depends on dealer policies so better to clarify with your dealer. Skoda online bookings have Rs 3000/- cancellation.
  
• They don't have clarity if colour / configuration details can be changed later without affecting the seniority. Looks like Skoda wants realistic booking numbers and get to know variant and engine/transmission preferences before-hand to streamline production accordingly.
  
• Didn't reveal how many bookings received - but the showroom personnel seem happy with the customer interest after the unveil.
  
• This particular showroom displayed ONLY Kushaq (Used to have Octavia, Superb and Rapid on display earlier - now just one TD Rapid was seen outside - didn't check why the others are not) and had every single colour of the crossover on display. Slavia cannot arrive any sooner to break this monotony.

[TheStRyder]

Originally Posted by TokyoDrifter

Knowing Skoda, it’s very much possible that it’s the ex-showroom price.

Hope that is not the case. My father-in-law is looking to replace his 7 year old honda city and wanted to book the 5th Generation city. I have asked him to hold on for the Slavia.

Hope Skoda does not get greedy and price the Slavia out of budget which seems quite possible if the chip shortage continues like this.

BTW the RS renders look smashing. Just lowering the stance does wonders to the looks of the car.

[car_monarch]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Skoda online bookings have Rs 3000/- cancellation. [/list]

There was a Rs 3000 cancellation charge on online booking initially in the TnCs. However, this has been removed now if you look at the revised TnCs on the website.

[shimoo]

Originally Posted by motorworks

I think Skoda and VW are doing something simply clever here!

Four cars—Kushaq, Taigun, Slavic and Virtus share engines and components, and not just this, even the body shell is essentially the same. If you look closely, the Kushaq and Taigun have all the main body panels like the doors, the roof, right from the A pillar to the C pillar are exactly the same.

Isn't this what we call badge engineering?
This is exactly they were doing with the Vento and Rapid anyway. They went ahead and spent a little extra to give them different interiors.

We have many examples of this, Duster and Terrano, Indica and CityRover, Baleno and Glanza, Captiva and Hector. See this lovely thread for more examples (Badge Engineering or Bodge Engineering - A Primer)

The Japanese cos. seem to be experts at the platform and component sharing game.

See what Honda did with Brio, Amaze, BR-V, Mobilio, and IIRC the new Honda City is also based on the same platform (unlike the previous gen which was based on the Jazz).

The Celerio, Ciaz, Ignis, Swift and Dzire, Baleno, S-Presso, WagonR even share the same ORVM housings! The power window switches and panel buttons are legendary for their ubiquitousness.

[neeraj0272]

Originally Posted by motorworks

I think Skoda and VW are doing something simply clever here!

Four cars—Kushaq, Taigun, Slavic and Virtus share engines and components, and not just this, even the body shell is essentially the same. If you look closely, the Kushaq and Taigun have all the main body panels like the doors, the roof, right from the A pillar to the C pillar are exactly the same.

Similarly, the Slavia and the Virtus are going to have identical body panels in most places.
So this is a bit like the Rapid and the Vento. But Skoda and VW have made extra efforts in ensuring that the interiors are completely different ( although you can still see a lot of shared components).

What this implies is that Skoda and VW have not pumped in a lot of cash in generating 4 cars. They have done some clever engineering and designing wherein they are able to share more than what meets the eye!

And I’m sure it’s only going to be a while before we see 2 more models, mostly under 4m crossovers, also based on the same platform and once again sharing body panels and the likes.

I think this is good for Skoda, some fair bit of variety is offered to the customer without really burning a lot of money!

Skoda & VW are themselves only badges of a single car company. They are producing near identical twins. So nothing surprising or clever there.
Soon enough Indian customer will see through this and treat Skoda & VW as one single company which indeed they are.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by shimoo

Isn't this what we call badge engineering?
This is exactly they were doing with the Vento and Rapid anyway. They went ahead and spent a little extra to give them different interiors.

The Celerio, Ciaz, Ignis, Swift and Dzire, Baleno, S-Presso, WagonR even share the same ORVM housings! The power window switches and panel buttons are legendary for their ubiquitousness.

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

Skoda & VW are themselves only badges of a single car company. They are producing near identical twins. So nothing surprising or clever there.
Soon enough Indian customer will see through this and treat Skoda & VW as one single company which indeed they are.

Well, I’m aware what badge engineering is! Let’s be clear that Taigun/ Kushaq, Slavia/ Virtus are not badge engineered cars like the Rapid / Vento or even the many shared cars between Nissan/ Renault and now Suzuki/ Toyota.

All of the new Skoda and VW cars have completely different interiors, shared parts are nothing new. What I meant was that at first glance the common consumer would not notice that the body panels like the door, root etc are exactly the same. They have created different identities and yet managed to save costs.

For example, the Sonet and the Venue are also the same underneath, but they don’t share any body panels. They share platforms, few components and Powertrains. There are many such examples.

But here, to the customer, the Taigun and Kushaq too are as different as the pair of Sonet and Venue. But they aren’t.