[prithwi-81]

Hi Guys,

Geneva saw the debut of the SEAT Toledo(on the Mission L concept), a car which shares a lot of parts with the Octavia/Laura. This is built on the same platform which the next Laura is supposed to be built and a lot of cabin components/style will be shared with the upcoming 2013+ Laura.

If you look at the front 3/4 view, it shares the exact same lines as the assembly line pic of the new Octavia/Laura shell that was leaked a few weeks back.
2013 Skoda Octavia shows a sneak-peek | Latest Autos & Car News | OnCars.in


Enjoy.. pics in the link...

Toledo 2012 | SEAT | Car Reviews | Honest John

[mayjay]

Looks quite bland. In fact, when you look at it from the back, it could be any Vdub group brand - VW? Sure. Audi? Sure. Skoda? okay! Just change the grill on the front as desired!

[2cents]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Hi Guys,

Geneva saw the debut of the SEAT Toledo(on the Mission L concept), a car which shares a lot of parts with the Octavia/Laura. This is built on the same platform which the next Laura is supposed to be built and a lot of cabin components/style will be shared with the upcoming 2013+ Laura.

Dont know much about the SEAT Toledo, but Mission L is a segment lower and what the Rapid will be in future (or maybe it is?!). They introduced the design concept for the next Laura/Octavia as Vision D.

PS: I dont know what this L and D stand for.

[funkmeister]

Does the rear remind anyone a bit of the New Ford Fiesta/ Mondeo?

[prithwi-81]

Platform is same MQB. Look at how identical the lines are to the Skoda concept. Infact the side profile of Mission D/L is same as the Toledo, and same as the body shell shown in the leak. Looks BLAND i agree.. but it seems the direction VW wants to take the brand.

[el lobo 6061]

Seat Toledo in the pictures looks nothing but VW Jetta with different front bumpers & headlights plus different rear bumper and tail lights. Interiors are slight bit different.

VW seems to sharing the same platform across all its sister brands. Even in bare metal picture of car in first link looks nothing but Jetta with a longer nose for the Skoda logo. So overall its the same car with different badge.
Skoda Octavia or Laura will be nothing but Jetta with different bits here there. Just like what Rapid is to Vento.

[seedyk]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Seat Toledo in the pictures looks nothing but VW Jetta with different front bumpers & headlights plus different rear bumper and tail lights. Interiors are slight bit different.

VW seems to sharing the same platform across all its sister brands. Even in bare metal picture of car in first link looks nothing but Jetta with a longer nose for the Skoda logo. So overall its the same car with different badge.
Skoda Octavia or Laura will be nothing but Jetta with different bits here there. Just like what Rapid is to Vento.

True that.
So moreover VW is more or less transforming its bouquet to borne the audi aesthetics and aptly use its fan following in a better way.
Long gone are those days when efforts were put in to make brands distinguishable.

[pganapathy]

Unfortunately the VW group does not seem to be interested in differentiating between VW, Skoda and Seat to any extent at all. Their reasoning from a business perspective makes perfect sense (a lot cheaper to build one platform and make a few changes for the three) but then I have to ask the inevitable question. Why don't they just scrap two of the brands and retain one only and sell all the cars under that brand name. How does this help them. Is it just that if anyone has a bias against the name they pick (most probably VW) that they may just pick the Skoda or Seat not knowing it is owned by VW. I understand if you keep the name Skoda in the Czech Republic or Seat in Spain where you will then have the patriotic aspect to sales, but why in other countries.

[amitg79]

The Mission L's gone and got itself some Seat clothes.

Not exciting, but good, clean lines which will remain fresh for a long time.
Apart from those ridiculously huge wheels, looks production ready.

[seedyk]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

Unfortunately the VW group does not seem to be interested in differentiating between VW, Skoda and Seat to any extent at all. Their reasoning from a business perspective makes perfect sense (a lot cheaper to build one platform and make a few changes for the three) but then I have to ask the inevitable question. Why don't they just scrap two of the brands and retain one only and sell all the cars under that brand name. How does this help them. Is it just that if anyone has a bias against the name they pick (most probably VW) that they may just pick the Skoda or Seat not knowing it is owned by VW. I understand if you keep the name Skoda in the Czech Republic or Seat in Spain where you will then have the patriotic aspect to sales, but why in other countries.

First and foremost, its not that VW group doesn't care differentiating, its merely transfering its brand equity built with one brand to the other.

Why are they not scrapping other brands and continuing with a single one ?
The brand equity may or may not help, but if they screw up in a single brand, they dont not want to tarnish the other sister brands because of that.

For example : Skoda is perceived as the worst of the lost, at the same time people are confident while going ahead with buying a VW though they share the same electronics.

[nik_kapur]

Well at least now we can see production ready interiors of the new Octavia in the form of the Toledos. It seems the Octavia/Laura will also lose some quality in the next gen model like the Jetta did.

[urajkumar]

Originally Posted by seedyk

First and foremost, its not that VW group doesn't care differentiating, its merely transfering its brand equity built with one brand to the other.

Why are they not scrapping other brands and continuing with a single one ?
The brand equity may or may not help, but if they screw up in a single brand, they dont not want to tarnish the other sister brands because of that.
.

I doubt if that is the reason. I think each brand has a unique flavour which they dont want to lose. Skoda for example is sold as value for money where as VW supposedly has a snob value attached to it.

Originally Posted by seedyk

For example : Skoda is perceived as the worst of the lost, at the same time people are confident while going ahead with buying a VW though they share the same electronics.

I also disagree about Skoda being perceived as worst since it is exact opposite in India where Skoda seem to have a better reputation than VW . Look at the recent success of the badge engineered Skoda Rapid which is doing better than the Vento. (I personally have had a change of heart since we have a Skoda Superb at home which we loved so much until recently when we got hit by the Skoda service which is the worst in India)

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Skoda Octavia or Laura will be nothing but Jetta with different bits here there. Just like what Rapid is to Vento.

How can you be so sure about this? Octavia is the cash cow for Skoda in Europe . Do you think it will be easy for Skoda to sell a rebadged Jetta in a place where Octavia is more popular car? It is too early to write off the new Octavia as rebadged Jetta without any reliable info.

I have been following international magazines and boards for quite some time now, from what i have gathered from speculation- new Octy just like the current one will be heavily based on next Golf and will be released only after new Golf comes out.

Both Rapid and Vento exist only in third world countries, they are nothing but stretched Polo with boots. Custom made for countries like ours where boot is more important the actual car, masses would pick a Vento over Golf anyday.

[seedyk]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

I doubt if that is the reason. I think each brand has a unique flavour which they dont want to lose. Skoda for example is sold as value for money where as VW supposedly has a snob value attached to it.

True that.
Each brand is versatile and has its own nuances.

Originally Posted by urajkumar

I also disagree about Skoda being perceived as worst since it is exact opposite in India where Skoda seem to have a better reputation than VW . Look at the recent success of the badge engineered Skoda Rapid which is doing better than the Vento. (I personally have had a change of heart since we have a Skoda Superb at home which we loved so much until recently when we got hit by the Skoda service which is the worst in India)

It's perceived as the worst only because of it's service, which you too have realized now.
Else, they engineer one heck of a machine.

[nik_kapur]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

How can you be so sure about this? Octavia is the cash cow for Skoda in Europe . Do you think it will be easy for Skoda to sell a rebadged Jetta in a place where Octavia is more popular car? It is too early to write off the new Octavia as rebadged Jetta without any reliable info.

I have been following international magazines and boards for quite some time now, from what i have gathered from speculation- new Octy just like the current one will be heavily based on next Golf and will be released only after new Golf comes out.

Both Rapid and Vento exist only in third world countries, they are nothing but stretched Polo with boots. Custom made for countries like ours where boot is more important the actual car, masses would pick a Vento over Golf anyday.

If you look at the Seat Toledo 2012 closely, you will see it is basically a Jetta with some mods. The Toledo gets a Hatch style boot opening which was unique to the Skoda brand of VW. I think this mod was made keeping in mind that the Octavia 3 and therefore it could safely be assumed that the Toledo is pretty much what we will get as the next Octavia. The Styling of the Vision D, Mission L clearly hints at the same as well.

What is disappointing overall is that the quality levels on the interior are down just like the new Jetta which is a level below the previous gen car. We will get hard plastic door panels and a hard touch dashboard. The current Laura is by far the best interior you can buy below 30L and is one of the strengths of the car.

What i cant figure out now is whether one should wait for the next gen Octavia/Laura or just buy the present car now. Im in need of a new car to replace my ageing civic and the Laura Elegance TDI is what i have in mind. The Jetta was shortlisted and dropped simply because of the lack of ACC which for me is unacceptable. Having owned a bunch of Japanese cars over the last 12 years or so, i really wanted to upgrade to a Quality German car with rich interiors. The next Octavia and the new Jetta really dont offer you the rich interiors of the past and are closer to the Japs in quality now.