[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

About the comments about Octavia losing its sheen with Slavia, I beg to differ.

Agree to this point. Octavia is a more global product with quality interiors, superior engine, transmission, suspension with less cost cutting targeting more towards Big 3 entry sedans.

Originally Posted by CircleOfLife

I agree to points on paper, but most of folks who have taken Octavia have streched budgets as nothing was available in 1.5L or the price range. Below 30L it still a price conscious buyer and still think of rising petrol cost. Sales number of Octavia reflects this clearly.

I doubt there will be much of cross shopping between Octavia and Slavia, there will be few but not many. The price difference between both top ends should be in the range of 10 to 15 lakhs. If I am in the market with the budget of 30 lakhs, I would not even think of Slavia. I believe the difference between Slavia and new Octavia will be more or less same like Rapid and previous gen Octavia.

[WindRide]

IF, an almost resigned if, slavia has quality issues, Skoda just might just price itself to oblivion. Add to it its product gaps. No hatchback. No wannabe sedan. No small sedan now. No diesels. Only pricey petrols with fuel prices on course to Mars.

IF it comes to that, exit countdown will start.

[nitkel]

Originally Posted by Geta

There are a billion crows in this country but it is the peacock which gets to be the national bird. Numbers don't mean everything.
Some people buy a Maruti/Hyundai and hope they don't end up in an accident/ get rear-ended.
Some people buy a VW/Skoda and they hope these companies do well enough to remain in India.
Life is all about being hopeful, right?

Can we please stop taking potshots at or profiling people owning cars from Maruti and Hyundai? Also, can you give me 1 car from VAG India, apart from the Polo, which has been tested by GNCAP? Heck, the Polo test was ages ago and it got 4 stars! Even a Tata Punch has done better than that! So, a VAG owner in India should also be "hopeful" of not ending up in a crash, or this "(pea)cockiness" may end up costing his/her life!

[spkrnh]

Originally Posted by nitkel

Can we please stop taking potshots at or profiling people owning cars from Maruti and Hyundai? Also, can you give me 1 car from VAG India, apart from the Polo, which has been tested by GNCAP? Heck, the Polo test was ages ago and it got 4 stars! Even a Tata Punch has done better than that! So, a VAG owner in India should also be "hopeful" of not ending up in a crash, or this "(pea)cockiness" may end up costing his/her life!

Though the Polo tested many years back for a 4 star NCAP, the Rapid and Vento which came after that were just extended versions of the Polo. Also for cars like Tiguan, Jetta, Karoq, T-Roc, Octavia, Passat and Superb which came after that most of them were of same sheet metal strengths and similar weights as those tested in Euroncap. So they would have got the 5 star.
If we start questioning which VAG group cars got the GNCAP 5 star, then we have to start asking the same for Jeep, Merc, BMW and Jag too.

Also for most BHpians here I’m sure issue with Creta, Seltos, Venue and their other global models not scoring well on crash safety here is their compromised standards. 5 star in Australian NCAP vs 3 for Seltos and 2 for Venue here. Shows the blatant double standards. As for Maruti the lesser said the better.

I don’t find too much wrong in people getting more awareness and pulling them up for obviously compromising on safety. All the more reason why Tata and Mahindra are getting so much support here for their safety focus.

PS : If the Kushaq / Taigun and Slavia get lesser than 4 stars then they deserve to get bashed too. Hope Skoda/Vw send them at the earliest for crash testing. Having driven both though and their claims of 30% increased structural integrity I’m confident of them getting a good score

[CircleOfLife]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

Absolutely not! The reason why D segment cars died (or are on the verge on dying) is because we Indians don’t value it’s ‘value proposition’.

Most D segment cars are high-engineered, strongly built cars with strong chassis, good engines, and premium interiors. Obviously at a cost. Just because Honda City/Hyundai Creta offers similar size and features list as an Octavia, it doesn’t make those cars comparable.

I drive a VW Jetta - and it compares favourably to my BMW 3 GL in many aspects - forget City/Creta!

I drive a new generation Octavia and the value proposition wasn’t against the so called CUV. The reason it is dying is due to various factors other than purely value proposition. A lot has to do with infrastructure issues. I won’t phantom to take current gen Octavia with a low GC into any uncharted territory or highways where the roads aren’t good this is where it looses VFM proposition for masses. Bucketing as Indians is definitely fashionable but if that is the case then why globally sedan sales have come down in countries with good infrastructure?

If vento and jetta in petrol would have been available today and looked damn similar where an untrained eye can’t spot a difference, this where I would start looking at VFM proposition to start with. That too if the price difference is substantial.

How does one perceive value proposition is different for each person depending on how deep one’s pockets are. That’s the hard truth. Enthusiast eye & expectations vs mass expectations can hardly meet each other.

[vinya_jag]

I think that the Design sketches are spot on. It mostly would be a L-shaped DRL. All the other lines and accents match. Except the tyres. Those tiny tyres make the car look more like an SX4 than an Octavia. I hope, the car in real looks sleeker than this Stubby camouflage

[nitkel]

Originally Posted by spkrnh

If we start questioning which VAG group cars got the GNCAP 5 star, then we have to start asking the same for Jeep, Merc, BMW and Jag too.
I don’t find too much wrong in people getting more awareness and pulling them up for obviously compromising on safety. All the more reason why Tata and Mahindra are getting so much support here for their safety focus.
PS : If the Kushaq / Taigun and Slavia get lesser than 4 stars then they deserve to get bashed too. Hope Skoda/Vw send them at the earliest for crash testing. Having driven both though and their claims of 30% increased structural integrity I’m confident of them getting a good score

I think you missed the point of my post. Still, safety ratings are based on factual data and not on what "feels" safe. There's a difference and a blanket assumption based on the crash ratings of one car shows ignorance, not experience. If you point to the crash ratings of one car (ex: Seltos) to claim it is unsafe, how can you objectively claim any other untested car (ex: Kushaq/Taigun) to be safe? Also, we should question all manufacturers whose cars are yet untested, no matter if it is Jeep, BMW or any other brand. We are going OT so I'll stop here!

[MadRasTan4986]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

I hope, the car in real looks sleeker than this Stubby camouflage

That's why the camouflage. I hope so too it is as sleek as it is in the sketches. Looks like a scaled down Octy and that's a good thing. Zac has been raving about the design, though it is his job to do that, but if it's as bulky as that camouflage I don't think it'll look good. If it's even 80% close to that sketch, we have one beautiful sedan for sure. Let's hope the other concerns and issues in Kushaq have been sorted out. I really am looking forward to this car and hoping the VAG group does well, but they seemed to have compromised a lot in terms of meeting a price criteria, which they have failed to do so as well. Let's hope the Slavia is priced well. Even if it's more expensive than the market leaders I can still see if sell provided they don't compromise on their strengths of solid build quality and well finished interiors.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

Except the tyres.

An amateur job of swapping the tyres to the sketch.

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

I hope, the car in real looks sleeker than this Stubby camouflage

Looks a bit elongated in the sketch no? The original in camo looks to have a slightly taller vibe to it. That said - no doubt this will be one of the best looking sedans in the segment. Not a fan of the current favourites - the City or the Verna. Infact, I think the old Ciaz looks more elegant than these two.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by CircleOfLife

I drive a new generation Octavia and the value proposition wasn’t against the so called CUV. The reason it is dying is due to various factors other than purely value proposition. A lot has to do with infrastructure issues. I won’t phantom to take current gen Octavia with a low GC into any uncharted territory or highways where the roads aren’t good this is where it looses VFM proposition for masses. Bucketing as Indians is definitely fashionable but if that is the case then why globally sedan sales have come down in countries with good infrastructure?
r.

Yup, that’s the other, more organic, reason as well. SUV preference is a global phenomenon with India being just another country following global trend. We can debate all we want (some logical reasons for SUV preference, other merely a fad) but SUV preference is here to stay.

I was talking about comparing a sedan to sedan, discounting the SUV factor for now. I think there is a huge difference between City/Vento/Slavia and D segment sedans.

On the actual topic - I hope Skoda is prepared to give a high quality sedan (interiors material quality, build etc.), even if at a slight premium. This segment customer is slightly less price sensitive the a sub 10 Rupee customer. VW/Skoda should not try to compete with Koreans/Indian-Jap/Chinese/Desi on their home turf of max features at any given price. That is not VW/Skoda strength, given its relatively high cost structures..

[ABHI_1512]

Going by the sketches released by Skoda, Slavia should be a looker amongst all. The sedan segment is on a death bed and I sincerely hope Skoda prices the vehicle right and puts some oxygen back into the segment.

The camouflaged version looks beefy when compared to the sketches though. It would be interesting to see the response this vehicle gets when it is launched. With the prices of petrol touching record highs, it would be a Herculean task for the Skoda team to make the car a success. That said, the design cues look sharp and the car looks fabulous, at least in the sketches. The sedan segment needs to reinvent itself, it’s about time that people go beyond the features and look for the necessity of the segment to buy cars.

[tbppjpr]

Since the Slavia is based on MQB A0 platform and seems it's mostly derived from Polo Mk6, is there any chance we get features like these in the Skoda Slavia/VW Virtus as well? Especially the drive assist and cruise control are super impressive for a car in this class which maintain the lanes and automatically adjust the speed according to legal speeds marked on the road sides (or maybe they take help from the navigation data).

The guy reviewing this Polo R Line currently drives a Tesla, he misses his previous VW and acknowledges the fact that VW makes cars for years and they do it with perfection, he also pays attention on many other minute details during the drive:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKdlqgb1oDM

[Venkatesh]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

I think that the Design sketches are spot on.

Waiting to see the Slavia in flesh.

[Geta]

Originally Posted by nitkel

Also, can you give me 1 car from VAG India, apart from the Polo, which has been tested by GNCAP? Heck, the Polo test was ages ago and it got 4 stars! Even a Tata Punch has done better than that! So, a VAG owner in India should also be "hopeful" of not ending up in a crash, or this "(pea)cockiness" may end up costing his/her life!

1) My trust in VW/Skoda's build quality has been developed over a decade now. There are several stories in our community where the members survived to tell the tale after horrific accidents involving their VW/Skoda cars.
2) Did I berate Tata's build quality anywhere in this forum? When I speak about Maruti/Hyundai owners should be 'hopeful' why is my statement getting hijacked to put words in my mouth? (Fyi, I presently own a Mahindra, Hyundai and Toyota and have owned Tata and Maruti in the past. My sibling owns a Skoda. Hence I know what I am talking about)

[nitkel]

Originally Posted by Geta

When I speak about Maruti/Hyundai owners should be 'hopeful' why is my statement getting hijacked to put words in my mouth? (Fyi, I presently own a Mahindra, Hyundai and Toyota and have owned Tata and Maruti in the past. My sibling owns a Skoda. Hence I know what I am taking about)

There are also other people out there who survived serious crashes in cars from Maruti and Hyundai. Similarly, you'll find a lot of stories where people didn't survive a crash in a VAG car. Hence, I urge members to be more objective when they classify cars as safe or unsafe. Also, the example of Tata Punch was just to put things in perspective and nobody is putting statements in your "mouth" so to speak. I believe we can move on now as we're OT.