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I already mentioned this to the dealer. They are checking out their options now. Fingers crossed. Hope something happens here.

I am in a strange fix now (stuck in limbo). My car is lying in the Skoda Warehouse Mangalore waiting to be registered (My payments passed just today morning, so not sure if registration application was sent or not). I just got this news and called the dealership immediately. The sales guy is probably cursing me and Zac hollis at the same time for this kind of timing.

Stop the registration and insurance process immediately and wait for the official Skoda model and price announcement before taking a call. The dealership cannot force delivery, even if you have paid up 100%

I think they are gonna tell me that they have already sent the car for registration and nothing can be done anymore.

Very stressed. My 22lakhs feel like been invested in drains.


And yeah I was right, thats the response that I am getting. That the process has already been started and nothing can be done.

Do I have any options left anymore ? I was thinking I could either

1. Ask for a Discount.
2. 6 airbags in future fitted in the chakan plant.
3. Stop the process and wait for an announcement before Re-booking the car.
4. Take the car as is. (with disappointment of-course)

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You should immediately escalate to Skoda and tag Zac (if required) to stop delivery of your car and get the new one if possible.

Otherwise too, there is no reason why your 22 lakhs is going in drains. You booked the car in the first place as you found it worth for 22 lakhs even without 6 airbags. So in the adverse situation of not able to cancel, I strongly feel you should focus on the positives for which you paid that money and be happy with your purchase.

Let me tell you the reasons, why I am feeling so bad. I was deciding between Creta top-end AT vs Kushaq DSG top end and was worried about the safety aspect of Kushaq with 2 airbags. The showroom guys made me talk to a senior sales representative for Skoda (South India) who convinced me that the body shell is strong and his words quote "That the 1.0 or 1.5 Automatic will never be released with 6 airbags since they will make the initial variants as jinxed variants". I told them I was ready to wait for a few more months and cancel my booking but they were adamant that such a version will never come. So it was a mistake on my end as well based on their assurance.

I'm amazed at the positive outlook that most people seem to have on this, primarily driven by Zac's personal efforts. That tells you how big an impact good PR can have!

Here's why I am amazed.

1. Both the engines - 1.0L and 1.5L have existed in the country for a while now on Rapid - Vento and imports respectively. We've have not seen the same issue crop up on any of those. I'm appalled that this simple contradiction hasn't sent shivers through everyone considering the new VAG cars! What does that indicate? Indicates the sheer degree of cost cutting Skoda-VW has done on their cars. Anyone who believes this cost-cutting was limited to fuel-pumps is naïve and begging to be deceived!

2. The price difference between the top spec Kushaq / Taigun and T-Roc isn't all that much at about 2 lacs less (50K if one were to consider older pricing of the T-Roc). The brand is asking its customers to make humongous compromises for that money - Build Quality, Inferior platform (read Indianized), Interior quality, Safety (I ain't trusting Kushaqs safety until NCAPs are in), SIGNIFICANTLY better parts all around and a CBU to boot.

Why is anyone still considering VAG cars, I just cannot understand.

Lets hope we dont make a virtue out of necessity here. As CEO, he is only doing damage control, and hoping that some would be impressed. Looking at all these issues, I wonder if Kushaq was a bit of a rushed product, given the pandemic backdrop, and not properly tested with all stakeholders (component vendors). I would not be surprised if more manufacturers experience similar issues. It can never be the case that all of the manufacturing industries or even service industries have been able to deliver 100 % during the worst phases of the pandemic. Something has to give.

PS: Today morning, the fuel opening lever in my Creta seems to have run into an issue. Its a small niggle, but a niggle nevertheless. Never happened in my previous cars except for the Linea.

It would be worth giving the same gentleman a call and discuss and point out the fact that you were ready to wait for this version and now when it has been confirmed why is Skoda not ready to take your booking back and book the newer one. Emphasizing that Skoda already has your money, so all the risk is yours and in lieu of that, all you are asking is to cancel the booking and rebook the newer version. Worth a try in my opinion.

Deliveries are expected to start from early next year. It is just the price announcement that is going to happen in next few days.

I am not sure how you have calculated the number.

Consider this for OTR Hyderabad prices. It will vary state to state.

Kushaq: style variant 1.5 AT

Ex showroom: 17,59,999 OTR: 20,30,000 with out insurance.

TROC: Only one variant 1.5 AT

Ex showroom:21,35,000 OTR: 25,00,000 without insurance

Difference between both of them OTR is nearly 5 lakhs in Hyderabad, which more than 20% value of the car. This is not small amount.

Taigun is expected to be positioned lowered for some variants and the margin of difference between TROC and Taigun only increases.

2020 TROC had more features than 2021 model add to that a price bump of 1.5 lakhs.

6 months to year down the line TAIGUN &
Kushaq will get more discounts.

Also have you considered difference in extended warranty prices, service cost between TROC and the twins? This will add too, every bit penny counts.

If you look at this way the price gap between TROC & Taigun only keeps increasing.

Today’s date you are paying a premium for new product no doubt in it. Such is the case with any manufacturer.

Don’t get me wrong, i am not saying TROC is not better built than Taigun. As halo product is Volkswagen making enough profits?

If groups needs to stay in India it needs to turn tables.

Taigun and Kushaq will mature with time.

It’s not as well rounded in few aspects compared to existing product line up offered by them.This is where the grouse is.

You are right on the pricing. I looked at carwale comparison and for some reason it showed prices at ex-showroom for one and on road for another (both Chandigarh). On road comparison works to about ~4.3L dearer for T-Roc in CDG.

But the point on cost cutting remains - of which build is merely one aspect. These are mechanical - critical parts failing. 1.0 has been available in the country. And so has 1.5 Tsi. Works fine on whatever fuel is available. Logical extension is, they've gone overboard on the cut-price models. The new platform is untested and we can only guess how it will compare with the imports. The larger point is, why not simply sell CKD TRocs? Or better, make the same damn car here! Investing like that, spending (wasting) precious time .

As far as profits are concerned, I wonder what stopped VAG from doing more volumes....prices and costs associated with their cars (most people who own VAG cars are happy to pay a premium) or unreliability of some of their parts and services after. Have you come across a VAG customer that is unhappy with their car? Their buyers loved their cars and retained them for long (mine's done 1.25L in its tenth year). I just hated the number of times the car came back from workshop with small parts missing / broken. I hated that they never were able to solve issues in 10 visits and 60 grand in repair costs which reliable FNGs did a fantastic job of solving in 1 visit and 2.5 grand! I hated that they knew about the injector issues and didn't do a recall - which they'd have happily done in any other country. Or solved DSG issues.

It seems odd that they started off by changing the very / only thing that made them good - the damn car :). And lo and behold - the issues have all remained - the group on MG ZS has a few people already calling out the difference in their showroom experience vs VW. Cars are already failing. And VW is as pigheaded as before - launched a top-end without the full safety package!

Why would anyone trust them? Their brand new cars are failing! :D

Where have you heard this from? Zac states in his tweet that the launch is in the 'next few weeks.'

Oh come on ! You are comparing with MG and new cars, have you forgotten the number of instances where brand new Hectors were stranded on the road and smoke coming out of them. The number of DCT issues, Hyundai and Kia has. My ex Ignis AC compressor had to be replaced in 5000 kms. Honda City's clutch had to be replaced within 3000 kms.

Injector issues you are saying ?? Are you even aware of what's happening with Duster 110 PS since 2012. There are people in this forum or the extended one, where Duster injectors have failed within 2500 kms (brand new car), all 4 and by the time it is 7500 kms it has failed again and had to towed back. People who have lost 6 injectors in 10000 kms. Multiple cars whose injectors have failed within 15000 kms. But Renault says everything is fine, it's fuel problem. It's an issue since 2012 and 9 years past, they still haven't solved it.

What about the 67 million cars recalled with the airbag updates, the famous Takata airbag scandal. There was life risk there not just car getting stalled. Imaging realizing that you have been driving around with a ticking time bomb in front of your face, literally, by something that is actually supposed to save your life. Now Maruti has recalled 1.8L cars for a motor change saying it is a safety hazard. What about Ford's DPF issues. Haven't they tested their cars ?? Now they are running off. The steering rack and pump issue of old Honda Civics. From 2006 to 2013, they still didn't solve it. It's the same everywhere brother.

The point is parts failing due to manufacturing defect is non-negotiable. Doesn't matter if it is brand new or after 2 years. Wear and tear parts we know, we can change them. Other parts failing no matter when, means the vehicle is unreliable. And it is the sad truth for every brand for some or the other model of theirs.

Have said this before and am saying again. Testing cars with prototype parts and mass producing them are a huge difference. That's why it is always advised not to buy a new launch, if you do it's your risk. You really think the new XUV 700 will come with zero issues in the first few batches. Here Skoda is publicly accepting, acknowledging and getting the things rectified for everyone not just the stranded people. Even Rapid owners are getting some update. Give them a break and let them do what they are doing.

I did quote this in thread earlier Fuel pump failure is not a new issue with Volkswagen group. This time also same part seems to be the culprit. What bothers me is why time and again this part fails.

You are one brave man to still hold that decade old gem of a car my friend.

Why not TROC? Answer wouldn’t be straightforward. Investment on a platform will not be to meet a country specific requirements.
Cars on this platform surely destined to be exported to other markets. This will be longer strategy to get returns.

Rational behind such heavy investment would have been thought through deeper.

Any government incentive scheme by boosting local manufacturing? Similar to PLI scheme.

I would have loved if Skoda would have got Kamiq and Volkswagen the TROC to localised it. Wouldn’t boss who has signed the big cheque would have raised this?

As all top honchos put it, there should be business justification. In this case seems fatter profit margin at a certain expense. This cost cutting expense is the one not going well with the existing base of owners.

Why trust them? My answer is trust no one. Just take delivery of any brand car and pray to god that you haven’t ended up with a Lemon.lol: Our laws are not pro consumers.

Even other brands have failed miserably. New cars catching fire, breaks failing, car splitting into two, not able to solve dpf issues, zero star safety but the PR of these companies have managed it better.

I was meeting a sales advisor at Volkswagen last week. Casual conversation, I asked why are you not planning to move to other brands?

He answers, Sir most customers who walk-in to our showroom are either the ones who have owned the brand vehicle before or has done some homework. My job is already half done there. Very few times there would be a customer to whom i would need to sell the brand and car.

Kushaq needs to regain momentum quickly. 10,000 bookings after 1 month of lauch is not a great number considering the volume positioning of the car. Even the Thar which is a niche vehicle, had 25K plus bookings soon after launch if I remeber right. I think the premium pricing and the initial reports of ECU issues exaggerated hugely in social media were the root causes of the low number of bookings.

To recover quickly , Skoda will need to do something that will bring in a whole new segment of buyers and create ripples in the market. One way may be to offer a "Festival Special" edition that can be booked during October and November. This could be the Active Variant minus the infotainment system and speakers for 9.99 lakhs. Now that will deliver some shock value and a sharp increase in bookings, as a whole new segment of customers who go for compact SUVs like Ecosport and Sonet or the base variants of the Creta to slip under the 10L road tax bracket wil be attracted to Kushaq. In a state like TN, the difference in on-road price, between a car priced at 9.99 lakhs and one priced at 10.5 lakhs is not 50 K, it is 1.1 lakhs Financially this will not impact Skoda much as well. The base variant has great safety features that can be the key differentiator from the competition. Skoda needs to quickly build at least 6 months order book, to have a strong first year of sales.