[SerArthurDayne]

Disclaimer:

Alright, I know that many better men have tried to answer this. But their answers have always failed to satiate my curiosity and have seemed to barely scratch the surface.

This is an honest attempt to delve deeper into this case and find the actual reason. Having driven both these cars and most of the cars in & around this segment, I believe that I can do justice to this.

PS:
This blog contains raw, poignant & straightforward arguments. Readers' discretion is advised.

Let's begin!

Context:

Unless you're living under a rock, you must be knowing that the German Twins (Kushaq & Taigun) have failed spectacularly in terms of sales.

Here's some data on this:

Credits: Mycarhelpline.com

To put things into perspective, every month, Hyundai Creta - a direct competitor - gets sold around thrice as many times as the German Twins combined.

This lacklustre performance is despite the facts that:
1. The German Twins boast about being the safest cars in the country with 5 Star NCAP rating
2. Heavy discounts are offered on both these cars, with hardly any waiting period
3. Almost all the so-called-influencers on YouTube and every imaginable platform who claim to be unbiased, have suspiciously drooled over these cars over and over

Critically analysing the popular reasoning for poor sales:

1. Poor Reliability & Expensive service
It is true that the initial batches had many issues in terms of EPC, AC, etc. Many users had complained about break-downs and constant trips to the service centre. However, these aren't the only cars that have had issues in the initial batches. Many car manufactures have bounced back after such mishaps. Also, these issues have mostly been fixed in the recent lots of Kushaq & Taigun, but still they're struggling.

Expensive service is still a concern for these cars. But the comprehensive service packs that are available, certainly provide some relief. So, the costs aren't unreasonable as compared to the industry standards and are still worth the brilliant experience these cars offer.
Even the service experience of VW is much better than many Indian Companies. People have complained about TATA's service workers being less professional than the workers at a bidi factory. Yet, TATA sells so many cars.

Not a convincing reason!

2. Poor interior quality due to localisation
Lol. As Michael Scott once said, this is BS! it really is. We are Indians. We don't care if our cars lack in terms of touch and feel inside the cabin. If we did, then Maruti, Mahindra & TATA cars won't be all over our roads. Although the interior quality of previous cars of VW was much better than than the current, the latter is still better than many of the "Indian" cars under 20L.

So this reason is farthest from the truth.

3. Diesel
The Dieselgate scam did put a dent to the image and hence, these cars are only available in Petrol. The grunt of a diesel engine along with the mileage is what Indian car enthusiasts like to go for. These cars fail to provide that, and that can be considered as one of the reasons for less sales.

But as government is going hard with emission norms & taxes, many other companies have also ditched diesel without seeing a drop in sales. And the mileage of the German Twins isn't very bad when compared to the other Turbo Petrol rivals.

Around 60-70% of Creta/Seltos cars are sold with Petrol engine. So, even if we consider that people aren't buying Kushaq & Taigun because of diesel, at least the petrol lovers should've considered them. But the combined sales of both these cars doesn't even reach 50% of Creta's sales.

Hence, even this reason doesn't really answer our question.

The real reason:

The answer, albeit seemingly elusive, is actually very simple.

Product-Market Fit

But how? Kushaq & Taigun are excellent products. They're built on a solid platform, look striking (if you ignore the thin wheels) and are very much fun to drive. No doubt about that. But they don't exactly fit well in the market. Here's why:

Indian market is tricky. You don't just compete within your segment. You also have to compete against your adjoining segments. And Škoda/VW can't even compete well in one. The segment-standard price can't be the only justification for the price of your car.

Let's talk about the 3 segments:

1. If I want to buy a Petrol Car under 15L, I might as well go for a compact SUV (Sub 4m) and get a fully loaded, top-of-the line automatic Hyundai Venue, Brezza or even Nexon than getting an incomplete car. Kushaq/Taigun don't really compel people to push their budget.

2. Even if they push their budget to 16-18L, they don't chose any of these cars. For the 1L variants of Kushaq/Taigun, at any given price point, the competing cars in the mid-SUV segment offer more features/value. Case in point: Panoramic Sunroof. Yes, we Indians are obsessed with Sunroofs. Why would I want a small Sunroof if I can get a panoramic one at the same price. That's why even Seltos could never come close to the sales of Creta, despite being feature loaded. Those who think that this reason is silly, know as little about the on-ground sentiment of Indian car buyers as the market research team at Škoda/VW.

3. The most fun 1.5L variants are really expensive, with top models going upwards of 22L. At this price point, many better options are available in the market, where competitors are offering 7 seaters, 4x4, ADAS, you name it. So the German twins don't really pass the value-for-money test that we Indians love.

Conclusion:

As the Indian adage goes, the poorly positioned Kushaq & Taigun have become like "Dhobi ka kutta - na ghar ka na ghaat ka".
Anyone who thinks objectively will skip these cars. And evidently, only emotional enthusiasts are buying them.

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:

1. Kushaq & Taigun majorly have features similar to a compact SUV (sub 4m) and would've really slaughtered the competition if they were made a bit smaller & launched in this segment
2. If you really want to win in the current mid-SUV segment, maybe a facelift is in order. A Panoramic Sunroof, minor design tweaks with a splash of some new features will mostly do the trick. Also, nobody needs the crapy updates like the Kushaq Onyx Edition!
3. So, the next time you do market research before creating a car, don't forget to wear the shoes of real consumers and get out of your swanky offices. Common sense is all that is needed.

Thanks for reading. Would love to hear your thoughts
Cheers!!!

[Astargea]

I always thought both looks like sub 4-metre cars, design-wise. Something to do with its short overhang (ironically, due to its longest-in-segment wheelbase), thin wheels, blocky side profile, and flat-ish rear end.

Doesn't help that both cars are ~10 cm shorter than its major competitors (Creta, Seltos, GV, Hyryder). It may not penalise its rear legroom, but surely its proportions took a hit.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Interior quality matters!

Kushaq-Taigun cabins have perhaps the worst touch and feel of all cars, 12L and above. Even something like the humble Tiago EV, based on a cheaper, sub 10L hatchback, comes with equally good plastics, much better seat fabrics and a proper knitted roofliner, and an overall nicer cabin ambience.

Compared to similarly priced competition - City, Creta, Seltos and even Brezza, Nexon, Venue and Sonet, all of them have plusher interiors. This is a big part of the problem.

[jetsetgo08]

They are too pricey for what they offer.

If the base variants were priced under 10L ex-showroom they would see the sales increase, but for puny 1.0L engine despite being turbo and mated with 6-speed transmission, all the benefits are either going to the manufacturer or govt., and none to the customer.

[Maky]

Thanks for your post : )

Originally Posted by SerArthurDayne

2. Poor interior quality due to localisation
Lol. As Michael Scott once said, this is BS! it really is. We are Indians. We don't care if our cars lack in terms of touch and feel inside the cabin. If we did, then Maruti, Mahindra & TATA cars won't be all over our roads. Although the interior quality of previous cars of VW was much better than than the current, the latter is still better than many of the "Indian" cars under 20L.

So this reason is farthest from the truth.

Yeah I just flat out disagree with you on this one.
Interior quality matters if you have, atleast historically, positioned yourself as a luxury brand. It is expected.

After my test drive of both, Taigun/Kushaq felt like fancy Maruti's on the inside.
Heck my 2011 Swift competes very well with 'German' quality interiors I say to people now.

[CoolFire]

I would mostly concur with the OPs views, although the view that interiors do not count may not be entirely true. However, being a Kushaq 1.0 AT Stile owner, I feel it is the lack of visual bulk which is the biggest hindrance to their success. All the successful competitors of the segment - Creta, Seltos and now Grand Vitara/Hyrider twins really look one size bigger than these two. The 10cm shorter width, size and height do make it look much smaller. Yet, the longer wheel base makes it very spacious for at least two in the back row. For me, residing in a city with congested roads and parking spaces, the smaller width and length is a blessing.

Most people, especially in the middle segments still value a car by the sense of size. Of course, the news of several initial niggles, absence of panoramic sunroof and lacklustre interiors were other contributing factors.

PS: I am happy to report that all the minor niggles of my car have now gone away. The last update has made AC really good and the driver side power window bounce back issue is also solved. Some of the earlier ones like too much power on take off and screeching noise from brakes had gone away automatically after running around 4-5k kms.

[kumarprabhatn]

Features matter. I am on the fence to buy Taigun / Kushaq. Like the engine and the build, but no ADAS, 360 deg camera.

[androdev]

Lack of trust in the brand is the reason.

Product-market fit is actually fantastic.

Ford could not sell Endy as people only wanted to buy Fortuner. It’s all about the trust in the brand.

[condor]

Originally Posted by SerArthurDayne

2. Poor interior quality due to localisation
Lol. As Michael Scott once said, this is BS! it really is. We are Indians. We don't care if our cars lack in terms of touch and feel inside the cabin.!

Rather than poor interior quality due to localisation, a more applicable point would be poor quality parts in key areas, leading to some early replacements / failures. Read - made in china.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by CoolFire

I would mostly concur with the OPs views, although the view that interiors do not count may not be entirely true. However, being a Kushaq 1.0 AT Stile owner, I feel it is the lack of visual bulk which is the biggest hindrance to their success. All the successful competitors of the segment - Creta, Seltos and now Grand Vitara/Hyrider twins really look one size bigger than these two. The 10cm shorter width, size and height do make it look much smaller. Yet, the longer wheel base makes it very spacious for at least two in the back row.

Most people, especially in the middle segments still value a car by the sense of size. Of course, the news of several initial niggles, absence of panoramic sunroof and lacklustre interiors were other contributing factors

What I understand is that the usable boot capacity of the Kushaq is actually more than the Creta. Why dont they advertise this aspect? Unfortunately, India is not a very mature car country in all aspects. Therefore subtlety doesn't work here. People like( need) loud ,brash and in-your-face for everything these days.

[CoolFire]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

What I understand is that the usable boot capacity of the Kushaq is actually more than the Creta. Why dont they advertise this aspect? Unfortunately, India is not a very mature car country in all aspects. Therefore subtlety doesn't work here. People like( need) loud ,brash and in-your-face for everything these days.

You cannot blame the customers if your real intention is winning the market. Give them what they want. Skoda/VW needs to just look at what Hyundai and Kia are doing if they need marketing lessons

Since the customers want features, fine interiors and big looking SUVs, Hyundai/Kia are giving it. Tomorrow when majority of customers evolve and ask for safer cars and more refined drive characteristics, I am sure they will be the more than willing to give it.

[motorworks]

As rightfully stated by another bhpian, I think the biggest reason for the Kushaq and the Taigun not doing very well is down to its dimensions. Like they say, you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight! I mean, the Creta was launched in 2015, is a huge sales topper month on month, and then it literally becomes a new benchmark. So when VW and Skoda decided to plan a car for this segment, shouldn’t they have matched the creta in terms of dimensions & profile? Its not like the Kushaq and the taigun were already existing in Europe ( where compact SUVs may be doing well irrespective of size ), and so they had a chance of developing a fer from ground up. When i look at the Taigun from the side profile, it really resembles the Polo Cross!

But they went ahead, made these cars visually small, did not really load them with any major segment first features or anything like that and yet decided that they would charge as much or even more than the segment best seller? Who approves such business plans? I mean, if Skoda and VW had priced these cars even between the Venue and the Creta, it would have been some sweetspot.

I do appreciate what they did with the Slavia and the Virtus though, they more or less matched the Honda city in terms of dimensions and features, its a pity that this happened to be a declining segment though!

[jaysonline]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Interior quality matters!

Kushaq-Taigun cabins have perhaps the worst touch and feel of all cars, 12L and above. Even something like the humble Tiago EV, based on a cheaper, sub 10L hatchback, comes with equally good plastics, much better seat fabrics and a proper knitted roofliner, and an overall nicer cabin ambience.
.

True, this is a major point to consider, there is no WOW factor in the interiors. I have driven three of them and seen all four. The only one that felt a bit decent for a top model was the Slavia's interior(relatively). At least they should have worked to fix the ugly positioning of the hand brake or provided EPB on the top models.
Add to this woes with basic functions like AC , window up/down, I mean how can such a big group mess up basic functions is beyond my understanding.

Skoda/VW group will have to pull up their socks and bring something new to survive the onslaught from the competitors, doing it the Polo way might not be enough.

[d-g-p]

Maruti, Hyundai and Kia has an advantage of very large sales network coupled with assured service. Tata and Mahindra too have better sales network than the German twins, even though their service quality might be hit or miss. Volkswagen Skoda would fare badly in terms of both sales and Service network. If a Maruti has some niggles, it is easier for you to get help. Think of owning a VW Taigun with so many initial niggles if you stay outside of a Metro. Add to it the apparently not value for money tag, average interior quality etc etc.
Indian car buyers are not so mature as yet to give top priority to safety and pure driving pleasure. VW and Skoda does provide both of them but at a Premium for what Indians would prefer.
They have to add more service networks of some kind, if not sales.

[reppy]

Sorry - I disagree with OP"s views. There's only two reasons why the SAVW products failed:

1. Pathetic aircon (for the 1 litre TSI, which could've been a bestseller otherwise)

2. Inconsistent delivery features - a huge bummer being downsized screen sizes for no fault of the consumer

In a nutshell, inconsistent execution vs consumer expectations, quality and delivery.