[07CR]

Originally Posted by S15

So you are going to compare a car, that you have owned for three years, with a car whose video review you have watched for 3 minutes, and give a decisive judgement?
Atleast go and check it out in person, if not a test drive.

I will give this car a pass.

I have owned Ecosport for 1 year (total age of car =3 years), and I have watched various video reviews of Kushaq for a total duration of more than 4-5 hours. I am sure from whatever I have seen, known and understood about the car, it was sufficient for me to remove it from my shortlist.

[nitkel]

Originally Posted by rahulvv

I simply fail to understand the reason why people are justifying 2 airbags in a 20L+ on road car.. Some of these posts sound like the Twitter handles going ga-ga over Kushaq today

Nah, just brand snobs fiercely protecting their "mass market" VAG brands!

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Lowflyer23

EDIT: Those claiming that they booked sonet after the Kushaq's price reveal are indirectly indicating dropping it from their shortlist due to their own budget constraints by comparing the Kushaq to a segment lower car. VAG group cars are premium, safer and better to drive than most of their rivals and that's the reason they command a premium. In fact, their 40 lac rupee cars (Superb and Allspace) are bargains as they give cars 2 segments above a run for their money. Most of the people still won't get it because they prefer being "Dil se Strong" and following the trend.

Not at all the case with me. I have cancelled my Kushaq booking and booked a Sonet GTX plus Diesel AT, which costs 16 Lacs on road in Gurgaon - it is not a cheap car! I would have happily paid even 18Lacs for the Kushaq style 1.0 Tsi At version, had it got the 6 airbags. But paying 18 lacs and not getting six airbags even at that price is atrocious. It is just poor variant planning on Skoda's part. Had they even launched a higher Style+ variant with 6 airbags and even a Digital driver display I would have even paid 1 lac more for that. And I am saying this having owned two Skoda's (Yeti) and even a Laura (even now). Budget wise I can even afford the new Octavia, but I am not keen to spend 33 Lacs on that car as it no longer represents good value for money, which was supposed to be Skoda's brand promise. Also their claim of safety on the Kushaq is still to be proven and reducing airbags on the vehicle does not reinforce their claim in any way.

[arvishnu]

I was waiting for this car but when they announce they would not be sold with Diesel engine, I decided to go with Creta as only the Koreans have a Diesel automatic at this price point. Hector has no Diesel automatic, Harrier is more expensive. XUV500 is due for a refresh. I thought Creta was expensive. Looking at prices of Kushaq I think I made the right decision. I think this product is DOA (dead on arrival).
1. No 6 airbags for top end AT, most of the buyers would be in cities and would be looking for AT
2. No Diesel engine, 50% of Creta sales are diesel
3. DQ 200 gearbox has issues period. I remember reading Zac Hollis himself acknowledging the issues with the gearbox on Twitter

This would be niche product for sure. These are my views, may be someone looking to buy an turbo manual would be interested, this car makes more sense for them.

[Mkone]

And I, with the humble Skoda Rapid experience, would also choose Skoda over the Korean cars any day. I think Skoda has done the right thing.
Why are people complaining? Prices are in the same range. That they are not undercutting the price should not become grudge. As most experts here agree, driving a Skoda is a better experience. No one disputes that.

[NevGin]

Dear fellow BHPians. While it is well understood that the Kushaq as a product has struck a nerve in many, please be courteous to others as well. The choice of a car is very personal and a very emotional one at that.

There are many varied aspects in a car that get emotions rolling. For many it is the engine and handling, for others it is the look and road presence, for many others it is the feature list and a lot of us like safety.

What is good or bad no one knows. All we know is that the manufacturer is offering us a product for a price and it is up to each of us an individuals to judge what suits us best.

Please do not exchange unpleasant banter and name calling of each others car choices. The decision is a personal one and lets keep this focused on the offering and its suitability to you, your usage and your needs.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by nitkel

So it is priced right just because you thought it matched your expectations? Also, I would like to understand why would a Skoda or VW command a premium over the already overpriced Koreans when it has neither the interiors, nor the features and space to match them? The safety factor has also been taken for a ride with the AT variants. Really, what is the USP of this car to command such a price list? Just because you believe it's priced right doesn't mean others are living in lala land!

Absolutely, this brand following has become blind following. When you can't call a spade a spade, what is it then? Just because of the brand (which is hardly a brand in India IMO), it can't be priced above the competition and yet offer less. Today's market is cut throat, ruthless and very dynamic. You don't have the specs to match the competition, neither you have the safety to offer and finally the pricing is ridiculous. It can't match the width of cars that are on sale a segment below. People still think, it's a European - you need to pay extra. I have gone through all the comments, 90% think the pricing is bad and the features on offer are poor, yet some (who wouldn't trouble the sale figures) think it is a superb package.

[harry10]

For a brief fleeting moment I was considering Kushaq 1.0 AT. I really liked it's exterior looks and interior quality looked good enough. Although it's petrol and my requirement is a Diesel Auto but I have always desired to own a Skoda car from the day I took the TD of Superb first generation. I was really hopeful so kept delaying booking any other car till the price was announced. Sadly, the price of Kushaq to my mind looks overpriced so I have finally booked the Sonet Diesel Auto today evening. Maybe, some day my long unfulfilled wish for a Skoda fill be fulfilled.

Also, though I agree with most members that prices are overpriced but the buying pattern of Indian buyers is unpredictable. Otherwise a Toyota Fortuner for 40+ lac won't be selling so well. I will predict a 1500 per month sale for first few months at least.

[bimmer1988]

I have been following this thread for quite a while, and I think the general consensus was for Skoda to launch the base variant of the car between 9.49 to 9.99 lac, coupled with AT which would then line up at 11.00 to 11.49 lac. This would have been on par with the Rapid AT pricing which stands at 9.7 lac.

A premium of 1.8 lac for the SUV shape and features over Rapid, which has the exact same engine, would have been reasonable to guarantee the numbers Rapid saw with its Rider edition.

Just because its Skoda, we shouldn't be paying through our noses, as the argued product was supposed to be the highly localized one and pricing should have reflected that.

[AMG Power]

Launch Price and Final Selling prices of VW Group cars:

VW Polo GTI :

Launch Price - 31 lakhs
Final selling price - 15 lakhs

Skoda vRS 245:

Launch price - 45 lakhs
Final selling price - 32 lakhs

Skoda Kushaq:

Launch price - 21 lakhs
Final Selling Price - Watch this space...

[divyadeeptsi]

Originally Posted by Arjun Bharadwaj

Why would anyone want to pay an extra 4 lakh on road Bangalore for the same engine and maybe equal/more space(?) when they can buy the same thing in the Rapid Rider for 9 lakh?!

For Fun seekers, would the Rapid not suffice? not like the 1L TSI Kushaq can challenge Thar's or any other 4WD's!

If I ever need the premiumness of a Skoda, I would buy the Rapid Rider thank you.

The Hyundais/KIAs suddenly look value for money.

Also note - 1.0 TSI Rapid is much faster than 1.0 Kushaq. Earlier this year when I got to know Kushaq isn’t coming before july, Polo Turbo edition was launched and I settled for that thinking it has at least the same engine at lower price. But now I’m in joy realising how much money I saved. Polo TSI MT is as fast in 0-100 as Kushaq 1.5 as both do that in almost 9.5 secs.

My sole requirement was a fun to drive and fast accelerating car at low price. The 7.3 lacs (on road) I paid feels so much worth now.

Even now if I were in the same position, I would buy Rapid Rider plus over Kushak Active.

[headbanger]

Originally Posted by Lowflyer23

You said it yourself, also not to forget the recent quality issues in Hyundai/Kia group mechanicals. There is a long thread about issues on Hyundai cars on this very forum and some of them (brake failure in previous gen Creta) are not small niggles.

EDIT: Those claiming that they booked sonet after the Kushaq's price reveal are indirectly indicating dropping it from their shortlist due to their own budget constraints by comparing the Kushaq to a segment lower car. VAG group cars are premium, safer and better to drive than most of their rivals and that's the reason they command a premium. In fact, their 40 lac rupee cars (Superb and Allspace) are bargains as they give cars 2 segments above a run for their money. Most of the people still won't get it because they prefer being "Dil se Strong" and following the trend.

1. As far as a long list of niggles or issues with any brand are concerned, mass market, niche or very niche, the crown goes to Skoda. The likes of Hyundais are not even competing there. Just search issues with Skoda anywhere on internet.

2. I would have given you the safety advantage for Kushaq had they not given 2 airbags only for a car costing in 15-20L segment. It's yet to be tested and shockingly offers 2 airbags only for AT variant.

3. As far as "Dil se strong" theory is concerned and people opting for Sonet, my take is very simple. Between 10-20L, there simply isn't any automatic high seated car that can give 5 star rated safety. The game has moved on and if space/safety combo is needed, you need to cross the 20L barrier. So either I should be spending 20L upwards or take the likes of Sonet to save some money. There is no point in taking a car costing more than Sonet delivering similar power, seating same number of folks with similar safety.

4. As for VAG cars in any avatar being the holy grail, I will leave it to the fan boys. Nobody can challenge faith and evangelism albeit facts can always be discussed. And for the record, all this is coming from someone having 1.7L run Polo Tdi in family

5.All said and done, this experience made me learn to have a plan B and be wiser going forward.

[TheWall]

So happy that I didn't wait for Kushaq pricing and went ahead with booking Honda City V MT.
Was following the Kushaq thread closely for the last 6-8 months and 1.0 L AT was the one I was aiming for. Fearing that the FE of 1.0L turbo mated to TC is going to be poor, I was worried.
Pricing is the final nail in the coffin. 17.7L OTR for mid variant 1.0L AT is pretty steep.
Honda City V variant seems a much more value for money proposition and also gives a better ASS than Skoda.
Sedan might not have the road presence of SUVs but neither does Skoda when compared to Creta/Seltos. Skoda have also screwed up big time by skipping 6 Airbags in Top AT variants.

[5kmiles]

Phenomenally atrocious pricing. Cut the features, cut the quality, cut the size and price it way above and beyond.

I have said it earlier and will say it again, Tata and Mahindra are the best fit for Indian use cases. Amazing value and quality is not that off either now. They price their offerings reasonably. Foreign car makers are just exploiting our hate for home grown car makers and our love for anything and everything that comes with a 'foreign badge' on it. Tata and Mahindra have primarily been competing with each other for small market that respects the value in Indian models. Times are changing, though. Still, a hatch based van like Alcazar will sell as 20L+ SUV and sell like hotcakes.

[fache89]

I'm going to take a dig at Skoda and it's "Niche" positioning.

Once upon a time, I interviewed a candidate. On the top of his resume, he had written something like this:

Objective: To work and grow in a Niche organisation.

I flipped his resume and asked him to read the first line.

His response: To work and grow in a नीचे organisation.

Skoda and entire VAG group excessive stress on niche is reminiscent of that candidate.

For me, the battle is between Jeep Compass Base Petrol vs Kushaq 1.5 Manual.

Compass arguably offers better build, superior interior fit and finish and independent suspension in rear as well 10 more horses. I'd literally have to take back to back test drive to figure out which one stands out more. But, I'm a sucker for ride and handling and power, and the features take a back seat. Everything else for me is "Niche" or "नीचे"