Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

-   -   Scoop! Skoda Superb & Octavia production to end in Feb 2023 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/255995-scoop-skoda-superb-octavia-production-end-feb-2023-a-5.html)

Came across this interview with Zac about a week and a half ago. He was specifically asked about sedans and he said that the company would focus on both the sedans and the SUVs for 2023 in India. If the news of Octavia and Superb production and sales ending in Feb 23 is true, hard to imagine how he has not alluded to the same here and in fact spoken to the contrary.

https://youtu.be/BOIIzVbL5iI

Skoda is playing the situation very cleverly, the 2023 Kodiaq bookings are only for Q1 2023 deliveries which is before BS6 Phase 2 comes into picture post which it is likely that the Kodiaq will again be unavailable for a few months till they get the new evo4 engines and increase the price even more.

FYI: These 2023 Kodiaq's received a 1.5 L price increase across the line-up but the 2022 stock still being fulfilled is being done at the older price only.

The end of an era.

The Octavia and the aptly named Superb are the two cars that made the Indian consumer think that maybe spending money on a premium sedan that isn't a luxury brand like Mercedes or BMW is a good thing. The subsequent Octavia VRS gave the Indian consumer a relatively cheap way to get a sport sedan, even when the VRS was discontinued for India the next cheapest performance sport sedan (the M340i) was almost twice the price.

The first gen Honda City VTEC made me like sedans, but it was the MK2 Octavia/Laura VRS and 3.2 VR6 Superb that made me fall in love with sedans.

Interesting! Can one still get the 2022 skoda Kodiaq at older prices? If you know of any dealers would you mind sharing details please?

Yes you can if you can find a dealer that has stock due to a cancelled booking or something. Zedex Skoda Patparganj Delhi had a white colour style variant (base model) kodiaq available.

How can we start negotiations an year ahead? rl:

I was hoping that when I upgrade next time, I wanted to buy an Octavia or Superb. But now with this, it would be nothing more than a daydream as I cannot afford either one within this short period. Too bad.

I am glad that I picked up the Polo after a lot of struggles. These cars from VAG group will soon be a thing in the past and we can only envy them when seeing them on road. :Frustrati

Next will be the EV madness, where every phone manufacturer will start selling cars. I can't get over Petrol Turbos and I don't think I will ever want an EV. Partially because I work in Oil & Gas, and EV revolution is pretty much like :thumbsdown for us

On a general note push for localization, irrational tax slab, and exorbitant taxes on CBU and CKDs have and eventually will put global products a.k.a value luxury cars out of reach for us mango people. In hindsight, I feel the cars (CR-V, Accord, Santa Fe, Jetta, Passat, and now Octavia and Superb) and manufacturers (Ford) we have lost would have been a benchmark that other manufacturers could have looked upon to match. They would have ensured enough competition and a slew of choices for car buyers. Instead, we have taken a step back.

Because even when global manufacturers have tried making localized products there were compromises, point in case, the almost 90% localized Skoda Slavia vs CKD Skoda Octavia. On the other hand, neither the homegrown manufacturer have the maturity nor the world-class know-how of things when it comes to making a trouble-free car (Before anyone starts questioning my rationale I request them to visit the niggles thread for Tata and Mahindra cars).

So the point is what could have been done differently? First of all, the government should stop giving knee-jerk reactions to the industry and putting the cart before the horse kind of approach. Second, they can take a leaf out of USA's playbook. If you want to support homegrown carmakers buy their car for the official fleet, give them incentives, etc. Not by finishing the competition. These I feel will bring back the control to the buyers and let them decide on which car or brand should thrive and which one not.

Civic - Gone
Elantra - Gone
Octavia - soon to be gone
Superb - soon to be gone

After knowing about cars and the dynamics of Indian Automotive Industry, I guess the D-Sedan is the first segment to get completely vanished from the market.

It's so cool how everyone's forgotten the Camry's existence! Telling comment on the capable little T-barge's fate in the hands of a disinterested principle. But the Octavia and Superbs are genuinely the end of a generation. I always thought they'd remain my fallback as I push my car purchase, what with insane pricing and waiting periods to boot. But here goes that option too. Guess its the era of the ugly tall-boys - and all we would end up doing is get with the program.

If this turns out to be true, it will be a real heartbreak for people like me. The ones who currently drive Rapids and Ventos and aspire to own that beautiful Octavia or Superb one day. If these cars are gone, it will not only be a loss to Skoda's brand value but also to us sedan lovers. If there's no Octavia or Superb, what am I even going to upgrade to? Slavia, well it's a replacement for Rapid and not an upgrade over Rapid. Kushaq will be compromise in terms of boot space when coming from Rapid. Kodiaq? I'm not sure if I really need an AWD crossover for my needs. The only options left for me would be the big Germans, which are not only getting expensive by the day but also are attention seekers which I would not like. Though I don't have any near term upgrade plans but after an year or two, what am I even going to buy is already giving me sleepless nights rl:. I always dreamt of owning an Octavia one day but I guess it's not going to happen. One option would be to buy an available stock before it is discontinued, the heart says go ahead and take the plunge but brain tells me that I lack vitamin M at the moment to afford one. I really hope it's a rumour and Octavia stays in the market, after all it's the car that established the brand Skoda in India. If I may make a comparison, it's like Parle Agro discontinuing their Parle G.

In this decade, the automotive world will go through its most disruptive phase, driven by the twin effects of autonomy and electrification. We will have to forget old loves and learn to love new ones. :sadface

If these rumours are true then Skoda would have no product in the line up to upgrade to from Slavia/ Kushaq except Kodiaq - whose availabilty has been always an issue and not as continuous as that of Octavia and Superb and its touching 50 lakhs on road. Do we see another Honda here (except they dont have anything to even in the 50 lakh bracket). And the company that continued to make sedans available in various segments in a sea of SUV/Crossovers shutting down production of these awesome sedans is really sad.

May be an end of an era of rightly priced luxury cars. But most of the luxury cars in our markets are overpriced and may continue to be overpriced. But I am pretty sure that if vw/skoda want to be here they will launch the new cars with the new platform. Of course the price will be higher, but eventually they will be catching up with the rest of the players in the market.
Once production stops we should see price drops in the pre owned markets. There could be some great deals on low mileage cars. As far as availability of spares and service is concerned, it should not be a problem at all. There are many jetta’s, passats still being serviced at authorised centres and everything is available.
Till then it’s advantage to the 3 Germans and Toyota, as the Camry still lives.

The car I wrote about that got me into Team BHP. We're losing a lot of these cars that offered unrivaled driving pleasure. A sad moment for me, the Octavia TSI with the C lamps on the back had my heart back when cars were only a pipe dream for me, I'd have picked it up if I could, DSG and all..Ah, sad day indeed.

Overpriced to hell and back, but these are some great cars we're losing out on.