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Old 14th January 2008, 19:02   #16
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IMHO it would only make sense is octavia is discontinued
and laura should be peiced between 13-15
and the jetta should be between 17-20

what do you guys think?
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Old 14th January 2008, 19:36   #17
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I fully agree. In the rest of the world, the Octavia (aka Laura in India) is priced BELOW the Jetta. Why will it be different in India?

The current Jetta is quite a bit bigger than the Civic and Corolla and the overally quality of the interiors is in a league above those found in the Civic and Corolla. I would expect the Jetta to be priced around 14+ lakhs. A good rule of thumb for car pricing is to look at the US prices and multiply it by roughly 2x. Hence the Passat which is available in the US for 21K is priced at 21+ lakhs in India. The Jetta is priced at around 16K in the US for the 2.5L 5-cylinder engine. While the engines in India may be different, we can approximately assume 14-17 lakhs for the Jetta.

BTW, I like the design of the Laura better than the Jetta. It I had a choice between the two in India and if both had the same engines, I would go for the Laura. In fact in Europe, VW has had the problem of Skodas cannabalizing into VW's sales. Likewise, VW's strategy in India needs to be looked at carefully or else they may end up competing with each other! The Laura and the Jetta are fundamentally the same car and are based off the same so called A5 platform (Golf, Jetta, Laura as well as some Seat cars). In the VAG group, only Audi has now begun to differentiate itself technically by basing its cars from its own platforms, though even here the Audi A3 is based on the same VAG A5 platform while the Q7 shares its platform with the VWToureg.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StarScream View Post
I doubt veryt much the Jetta will be in the 8-9 lakh range. I checked it out at the Auto Expo, sat inside, looked at it thoroughly. My impression is they could charge a slight premium over the Civic and Corolla for it. The fit and finish is superb and its very solidly built. With the Laura, VW do have a problem and I can't figure how they will resolve it.
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Old 14th January 2008, 19:45   #18
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Originally Posted by ajmat View Post

They will lose the goodwill of current Skoda owners, the current A.S.S. could tip them the wrong way
Although a Laura Rider sounds yummy, Im sure current Laura owners are going to be really pissed off. Im sure the L&K owners are really pissed off about the Ambiente version which to be honest looks more or less the same from outside.

Besides I wonder what more can be take out from the car? Parkatronic? Rear AC vents? Alloys? Rain Sensing Wipers? I guess that should result in a significant reduction in price for the Laura which will then replace the Octavia.

As for the Jetta, I guess what really makes sence is to sell both these cars side by side preferably with the same engines to save overhead costs. In India VW doesnt have to worry about Skoda being an inferior brand or people not buying the car because of the fact that it is a Skoda. We love our Skodas here!!
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Old 14th January 2008, 19:47   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AMATMO View Post
IMHO it would only make sense is octavia is discontinued
and laura should be peiced between 13-15
and the jetta should be between 17-20

what do you guys think?
Id think the Jetta is overpriced then considering the Passat goes for around 24, But then again they did that successfully with the Laura so it might jsut happen though Id much rather they dont.

Btw is the Laura already at that price level? Any idea how much the Octavia starts at?
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Old 14th January 2008, 22:09   #20
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How about the probability of Skoda phasing out the octavia and giving Laura a new face and badging it the octavia. Then Launch Jetta at the current Laura price point?
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Old 14th January 2008, 22:33   #21
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Shuvd as far as i know only deisel in 2.0 which is offered is the one in Passat ( 140 bhp)

Correct Me If I am wrong
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Old 14th January 2008, 22:48   #22
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Mint says that the Jetta will be proced between 14 to 17 lakhs

Check the link here:

Volkswagen?s Polo small car will ride into India by 2010 - livemint
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Old 14th January 2008, 22:48   #23
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What is the likely date of the Jetta announcement? Will the Tiguan be announced at the same time? Since the A5 platform is common with the Passat and the Laura, will the Tiguan be a CKD instead of the CBU?
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Old 14th January 2008, 22:55   #24
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@ Abhinav.gupta88 - The 2.0 diesel does duty in a whole range of cars in different states of tune. Here, we have the Passat and the A4 with 140 Bhp. 170Bhp is the popular option worldwide, needless to say!
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Old 15th January 2008, 04:25   #25
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I think Octavia will be phased out (or they will sell for time being with 1.6 engine or reduce the prices, till Jetta is launched).

It would be like this:

Passat to compete with Camry, Accord
Laura will compete with new corolla, Civic
Jetta will compete with Optra (may with fully loaded NHC).

Jetta has tank like build. I just love the dashboard and other instrumentation of Jetta (esp. it has blue and red lights). But biggest disadvantage is the rear leg space.. Also the head room for rear passengers is not much.

But it will have great road presence as compared to NHC. It wont be as attractive as an OPTRA (though the white color may do the trick).
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Old 15th January 2008, 05:40   #26
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Superb Car!

I think most of the companies should start thinking about upgrading their models cos this is the car which is ready to compete.
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Old 15th January 2008, 06:15   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rangaraj View Post
What is the likely date of the Jetta announcement? Will the Tiguan be announced at the same time? Since the A5 platform is common with the Passat and the Laura, will the Tiguan be a CKD instead of the CBU?
Somewhere in May- June for sale by Diwali. Most probably assembled by Skoda initially. Tiguan will need to be assembled here to be viable IMHO.
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Old 15th January 2008, 06:36   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1100D View Post
How about the probability of Skoda phasing out the octavia and giving Laura a new face and badging it the octavia. Then Launch Jetta at the current Laura price point?
I doubt that this would happen. Skoda should have ideally phased out the old octi and brought in the "new octi" read: Laura, but decided to be greedy and kept both. I wonder where else in the world would 2 generations be selling together, and better still at a premium.
Octi, if phased out, will be gone. Laura will sell as laura.

Interestingly, the laura is the first car that Skoda is branding. Else, it has always been the company that has been branded. (yes there have been one or two ads about Octi in the papers, but again, the focus was on Skoda and not Octi).

The jetta issue is unique. The Octi has been positioned as a "premium" car, and the laura much higher. So if VW wants to bring the Jetta into the "Mid-sized" segment, it might take hit on the branding.
Unless- they take page out of honda's book on the positioning of the City, Civic and the Accord.
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Old 15th January 2008, 08:52   #29
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Skoda's whole handling of the Octavia issue actually seems pretty clever.

They introduced a fully loaded version of the Laura which justified its high price to a lot of consumers and created a premium image for the Laura, then began moving down the line. Now that they have the base Laura selling for around the same as their top of the line Octavia all they need to do is get in a Laura Rider and the Octavia is successfully replaced with a product that seems superior to what its replacing. They now also have the Fabia in their portfolio.

Btw isnt the Laura more expensive than the outgoing Octavia in other markets too?
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Old 15th January 2008, 08:54   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by madan80 View Post
The jetta issue is unique. The Octi has been positioned as a "premium" car, and the laura much higher. So if VW wants to bring the Jetta into the "Mid-sized" segment, it might take hit on the branding.
Unless- they take page out of honda's book on the positioning of the City, Civic and the Accord.
To be honest I think this whole confusion is due to the article. The Jetta and the Laura cost roughly the same in markets worldwide and I guess thats whats going to be happen in India too. The Jetta is usually in the Civic segment which the Laura is now pretty much in too.
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