[JG@Nomad]

Nothing aspirational in these cars from the visuals and size. The quality of materials, fit & finish has really deteriorated in India strategy. So it was bound to happen - very few sales for these cars.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by SerArthurDayne

Disclaimer:

Indian market is tricky. You don't just compete within your segment. You also have to compete against your adjoining segments.

I kind of agree to your statement.

For one, i am looking for new car to replace my 2013 Honda city and looking for a upgrade as well. I am shortlisting the car from variety of segments: from XUV7oo to Innova Hycross to Octavia to X1 to 3 series to C class to Fortuner. I am ready to increase my budget to jump to next segment.

With VW its like, either you want one or don't. There is very small chance of cross-shopping.

[Shome]

There is no chance the expensive Germans will be able to compete with the Koreans on features lists (due to the FTA) which is what the average Indian buyers want in these price sensitive segments. Do note that the Tucson isn't as successful as the mindset for that segment is slightly different as most competitors will be more of an even match in terms of features and not as price sensitive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compre...nd_South_Korea

[ukalia]

I don’t agree with this. Every company is driven by strategy. VW-Skoda is not in numbers game as Japanese and Korean manufacturers. One simply can not compare a Suzuki or Kia/Hyundai with VW. Audi/BMW/Mercedes numbers are even lower. Would you call them a failure? It is a strategy that each company has.
Also, if someone is looking for gizmos like wireless charging or 360 degree camera then even Audi does not provide that. Also in the end it boils down to what you are looking for in a car - gizmos or safety and driving pleasure. So my tale on this don’t go by simple numbers if a company has set itself a target and it sells beyond that then it is a successful company. Don’t compare it with a brand who’s is in mass segment.

[nickelniks]

When I was on the lookout for a new car, I had pretty much finalised the Kushaq. The only decision pending was 1.5 L or 1 L. It was hard to justify the cost for 1.5L DSG.
The availability of DSG for a test drive was also challenging. After multiple follow ups with RAJA skoda Mahadevpura, I was called to showroom on a Sunday morning.
Upon reaching there people were clueless about any test drive of 1.5L much less a DSG.
after a 40 min wait, during which I was not even asked for water. An irritated fellow came and announced that only 1.5L manual will be available for a short test drive.
During the test drive this fellow was silent & gave one syllable answers to my question.
In the end I asked him why would a customer pay you 22+ Lakh for a DSG, when xuv 700 was available at similar price.
The fellow said 'Brand Value', Skoda is a premium brand.
I really laughed out loud & said 'have you looked in a mirror?'.
Went home & booked XUV 700 Ax7 P AT online. Got delivered in 1 month. Extremely happy with the decision.
Skoda lost a sureshot customer due to the pathetic showroom experience.

[Kln]

The classic Indian mentality of 'itni chhoti gaadi ke liye itna sare paise!' is what is killing the VAG twins whichever way you cut the cake. The cars look puny, offer dicey reliability, fewer features and have no strong USP. All of this will be overlooked by the Indian buyer till the time he sees the eye watering prices!

[//R]

To me, the company seems to be at a loss of an effective marketing strategy. Indians (the majority of aam junta) are inherently influenced by "bigger is better", "the more it gets sold the better it is", "blingy looks over substantial quality" and general hearsay about cost of maintenance and customer service horror stories. Even before any company launches any product in any sector in the country, they have to battle these (sometimes illogical) biases which can be very discouraging.

About the cars, I've recently test driven both of them and have them in my crosshairs for potential upgrade options from my 7+ years old diesel S-Cross. They drive very well, the wheelbase and interior space is great, the pricing is a little amiss with the 1.5 turbo variants but it's nothing too major and they are structurally built very well, as documented in the recent GNCAP tests.

For anyone with a sound logical perception, the focus of the brand is clear; they want to build strong cars that are fun to drive. The problem lies in the execution of how they went about the whole MQB-A0-IN platform based cars IMO. The GNCAP test came about a year after the cars went on sale and before the crash test the general perception of quality of the cars was poor. The plastics saw a drop in quality, looking at the roof lining and the switches one doesn't feel like one's sitting in a VAG car and therein lies the huge problem.

Priced along the lines of other "SUVs" where the cabin seems to belong to a segment below and the overall size and road presence of the car is lacking, how many cars would you expect to sell in a country which doesn't let go of biases easily? The only way people would happily pay for the Kushaqs/Taiguns/Slavia/Virtus like they do with the Koreans especially is if they feel premium or offer something extraordinary in terms of ownership experience. What works well for VAG cars is how they drive and I believe not enough people went past the looks, size and perceived quality of the cars to actually driving one.

[harshbhat]

Originally Posted by nickelniks

In the end I asked him why would a customer pay you 22+ Lakh for a DSG, when xuv 700 was available at similar price.
The fellow said 'Brand Value', Skoda is a premium brand.
I really laughed out loud & said 'have you looked in a mirror?'.
Went home & booked XUV 700 Ax7 P AT online. Got delivered in 1 month. Extremely happy with the decision.
Skoda lost a sureshot customer due to the pathetic showroom experience.

I bought Kia Seltos GTX+ DCT for 22L+ and definitely showroom experience is one of the highlight. All through, I have received individual attention and felt that I bought a car from a premium brand. I'm sorry, kushaq and taigun were not in contention because of looks, design, interiors and features. I didn't even test drive creta as looks was not appealing despite panoramic sunroof

[sunikkat]

I don’t think it’s to do with product. Even if VAG fix most of the problems mentioned in the opening post they wouldn’t have sold more than this. Even Astor which has best interiors in the segment and perceived by general public as a more complete product is selling very less numbers.
Ford, Chevy, Fiat left India. Honda, Nissan, Renault etc do not have anything great in terms of sale. Toyota has limited themselves with 2 to 3 products. Citroen is struggling. Even Jeep sales with all those loyalists are declining. MG really could not make much impact even after having products that exactly set with Indian requirements (big, flashy interiors, VFM, features etc.)
To be successful in Indian market every company has to keep their price in check and for that compromise on something- VAG compromise on size and features, Mahindra / Tata compromises on overall finesse, Hyundai / Maruti compromises on overall build and safety. So don’t think VAG can incorporate all mentioned in the OP and still not increase price. Having said that after sales is something they should definitely improve, as it’s non-negotiable.
In addition, do we really know what target VAG has set for these products? They might even be selling as per their expectations. For example India has become the top market in terms of sales for Skoda now. Kushaq has increased the reach of Skoda to general public. In my view atleast these products have given confidence to VAG to invest more in India and I am very confident they are going to stay here for more and not give up like other global players.

[harshbhat]

Hyundai and Kia are doing well internationally as well, as they are offering great value vs competition. They have inherited many technologies and design from European competition and there is not much innovation in ICE cars from Europeans

[Heisenberg_ad]

Originally Posted by SerArthurDayne

I don't want to leave this case study incomplete like these cars, and I also don't want VW to exit India. So, for the love of German cars, I'll leave a few suggestions for the VW Group for a better future:

Accurate case study. The germans would have paid one of the big fours' millions for this study and you gave it away for free.

Jokes apart, but this is actually true. I myself was considering cars a few weeks ago, and these two Germans didn't fit in either segment.
For 15L, most would buy creta/seltos.
For 20L, most would buy xuv700/harrier.

I'd still give the brands a benefit of doubt. Maybe they aren't able to bring the prices down because they aren't achieving economies of scale.

[Gurudatt28227]

Right from the Octavia, Rapid and Polo days, VW and Skoda never sold like other mass-market cars. They always had a niche set of customers who bought them for solid build quality and great driving dynamics. Kushaq and Taigun are the same sizes as the international spec Kamiq and T-cross but maybe with slightly cheapened interiors. They have the same solid build, drive trains and dynamics. When they launched the 2.0 cars, I don't think the company set a target that they were going to be leading the C2 segment SUV market share. They are doing decently well for the target they set for themselves and they also have an Export market in Mexico, Vietnam and other places to cater to. I see MG Astor also selling in similar numbers despite great looks, top-notch interiors and build quality. These cars mostly sell in Tier-1 cities due to a better service network. Most people in Tier-2 cities and smaller towns which is the larger part of this country prefer Koreans and Japs for their large service network and partly due to herd mentality.

[harshbhat]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg_ad

For 15L, most would buy creta/seltos.
For 20L, most would buy xuv700/harrier.

Top end variants of Creta/Seltos cost 22L on-road. There is a big difference in user experience between 15 lakh Seltos and 22 lakh Seltos even though they both look same from outside. Similarly, top end variants of Harrier cost 29L on-road.

15 lakh budget - Nexon, Venue, Sonet
20 lakh budget - Creta, Seltos, Verna, kushaq, taigun, slavia, virtus
28 lakh budget - Harrier, XUV 700, compass

[Kln]

Lack of mass advertising campaigns is also hurting the VAG twins. I don't recall a single memorable ad campaign by VAG in India, to think of it. Other cars like Safari, Creta, Nexon are already popular and sell on their reputation itself. The marquee products with comparable recall value as Koreans - Polo and Rapid -- are already discontinued. Terrible naming (one of my friends says that if you speak KUSHAQ forcibly, it sounds like a desi dad waking up and cleaning his sinuses) has only added to their woes.

[ashis89]

The VAG twins look a size smaller than competition, my perception. Two of my colleagues dropped the Kushaq for the same reason. And now, my friend has also dropped the Taigun as it doesn't look like a SUV.

The other day I was at a car wash where a Taigun GT was waiting in line between a ScorpioN and my Seltos. It looked more like a Polo Cross/i20 Active competitor than a Creta or even Nexon.