[.anshuman]

Team-BHP's Skoda Rapid review has been uploaded at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread.

According to BSM, Skoda Auto will launch a sedan based on VW Vento platform in 2011 across global markets, Including India. In India it will replace the ageing Octavia. This new car might be called Felicia and it can be a notchback like Octavia and Laura.

The new Skoda sedan will arrive at Indian shores by mid-2011. It is expected to be powered by the same 1.6 litre Petrol and Diesel engines as the VW Vento and is expected to be priced between 8-10 lakhs.

[karanraheja]

Some renderings for the 2011 Skoda Felicia/ Octavia.I hope it doesnt look like the 1st one.



Source :Automobile Magazine , France



Source : Automarket

[MileCruncher]

Looks like this will be based on the Fabia sedan unlike the Octavia which shares the platform with Golf

[aaggoswami]

1) If the new Sedan is based on Vento, then the car is based on Polo that is currently being sold in India. No sedan is made on the current Fabia A04, also called PQ24 officially. Only hatch and estate versions are available for the current Fabia.
The current Fabia is in production since 2007. Earlier generation Fabia is also based on PQ24, but a sedan version was available. IMO, AutoIndia even managed to test sedan, but earlier generation Fabia never touched Indian roads.

Historically, Fabia is based on Polo, so can we expect new Fabia based on current Polo with a lower price tag ? A sedan with a price tag lower than Current Octy will help Skoda IMO ( A.S & S. has to be worked onto ).

2) The new Polo is based on PQ25, a sedan which India will hopefully receive by Diwali. IMO, Vento i.e. PQ25 based sedan will replace Octy. With the Laura, Skoda/VW made it clear that they are going to charge premium for Golf based cars. So to replace earlier Golf based sedan the obvious replacement would be a Polo based sedan.

3) IMO, this move gives an indication about the price range of new Octy. I hope that Vento is placed below Octy. I expect the new Octy to be lower than the current one and based on the PQ25 based Fabia.

[.anshuman]

@Karanraheja: The first pic looks very similar to the Fabia and the second one most probably is the Superb.

Now when Skoda is designing an all new car, they might give the car a new identity instead of making it look like a Fabia or Superb.

[ACM]

Confused lot.

The current positioning of VW / Skoda brands is all wrong on the lower end, with the prices of equivalent Laura exceeded those of the Jetta, and where it is lower as in the case of Super vs Passat the Superb is easily ourselling all cars in the segment due to the significantly higher Passat pricing.

On the other hand the Fabia too exceeds the Polo on pricing and does not sell while the Polo has a long queue which it is not able to satisfy. It should have been priced in the reverse order in the Fabia / Polo segment.

Hence out here in India as a Brand the Skodas are priced higher than VW for cars uptill 19L, which is essentially absurd. Yes the Skodas are sporty looking hatches (laura and octavia) vs the sedan jetta and Vento but in the end both the companies are confused on how to position the brands, and a joint strategy work out would help both of them. If the Superb can be provided as X price then the Passat surely can match it and hence would have exceed the Accord in numbers rather than not selling at all as presently. The Skoda base spec sedan needs to come in priced lower than the Vento and this is going to be hard to achieve. Skoda Octavia brand value is getting erroded with the name headed no where, which newer variants far from launch and an India specific name "Laura" adopted for the Octavia II.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

@Karanraheja: The first pic looks very similar to the Fabia and the second one most probably is the Superb.

Now when Skoda is designing an all new car, they might give the car a new identity instead of making it look like a Fabia or Superb.

I just realised after posting the 2nd picture that it might be the picture of
Next Gen Laura which is expected to look similar to Superb from front. My bad , i realised it only after posting - i guess in few markets the Octavia is called the Felicia. There are more chances of Felicia to look like a Fabia from front like Vento looks like Polo from front.

[MihirC]

In the first picture like mentioned before the car looks too much fabia kinds which might not be such a great things as fabia has started to look quite dated from the front. Carrying on more or less the same front again for the next couple of years would be a debatable idea.

Skoda should be giving us a newly designed car, this car is not looking half as smashing as the ANHC or the Vento(although its not a new design).

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

I guess in few markets the Octavia is called the Felicia.

Actually Felicia was the predecesor of Fabia. Skoda stopped producing it a year after Fabia manufacturing started.

Originally Posted by karanraheja

There are more chances of Felicia to look like a Fabia from front like Vento looks like Polo from front.

I too think so.

[GTO]

Sure makes sense to me. There is a void created by the Octavia 1.9's departure; its replacement (the Laura) being priced 30 - 40% higher hasn't helped matters either. The commuter Toyota Altis is substantially cheaper than the Laura / Jetta, and perfectly meets the needs of the typical C+ segment diesel customer.

Skoda needs a 10 - 11 lakh diesel sedan to retain / increase its market share.

[holysmoke]

I fear then we will have a lot of cars looking the same.

The front end of the polo, the vento, and the new jetta all look the same to me. (do they share headlights?) Now add the octavia replacement.

Attached are images of the european polo, the indian vento and the US jetta.
They still look so similar. Now imagine the indian version of the 3.

[sgiitk]

Will it not be Two Sizes smaller!

[holysmoke]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Will it not be Two Sizes smaller!

So? Dont the current jetta and the passat look the SAME from the back?

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by holysmoke

Dont the current jetta and the passat look the SAME from the back?

Even i feel the same, whenever i see a Jetta or Passat from behind i check the car again for the size of the car to differentiate.

The new sedan from Skoda will share the chassis and underpinnings with the Vento but that does not mean they will look similar, expect it to wear a proper Skoda dress.

Manufacturers like Hyundai and Fiat now have a reason to be worried, with the expected pricing in the same range as Verna and Linea both Vento and the new Skoda sedan are expected to snatch a lot of the diesel pie. Skoda as a brand is already well accepted in India as a luxury brand.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by holysmoke

I fear then we will have a lot of cars looking the same.

The front end of the polo, the vento, and the new jetta all look the same to me. (do they share headlights?) Now add the octavia replacement.

As a fan of the Polo's clean styling, I have no complaints . However, as Anshuman posted, Skoda's version of the Vento will wear its own (Skoda-ish) clothes.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Even i feel the same, whenever i see a Jetta or Passat from behind i check the car again for the size of the car to differentiate.

I'm reminded of how the old Superb looked so similar to the Octavia!