[thiagust]

The views I have been getting from multiple threads/forums is that SkodaVW has compromised on its core due to cost cutting and localisation. I have a ~9 year old TSI which has 66K on the odo which still rocks. When I go long drives , it is simply awesome. For a car which goes north of 15 Lacs for most of the variants , if it has indeed compromised on the core , then they are already signing a death warrant for project 2.0. Also 20+L OTR for 1.5 TSI is absolute madness in my view. Everyone is fleecing the Indian auto consumer these days and these prices add to that in my view.

Also would any of the fellow bhpians know the NCAP rating for Slavia?>

[thanixravindran]

Looking at the feature spread, so in the two Style variants named With and without sunroof, there are indeed other differences like Automatic IRVM, Rain sensing Auto wipers, Skoda Sound system and more importantly full size spare wheel. Any day, I guess these are worth more than the 40,000 INR difference those variants at ex-showroom level.

At least, they could have given these variants different names. Is it too tough to come up with a variant name?

[ashutoshb]

I have booked the Astor (base variant, Style) for my father in law, but really wanted to get the Slavia.

Till today, I was waiting for the pricing to be out.

The base Astor is a much much much better value for money than the base Slavia.

Since the car has to be driven by the driver, the fantastic 1.0 TSI doesn't count.

I would have ignored several features, but halogen headlamps, no rear arm rest, rear wiper and defogger are things which I can not ignore.

At 9.98L, the Astor is offering all this and much more. LED DRLs and headlamps, 10 inch ICE, are few pluses.

My heart is still set at Slavia. I wish Skoda had charged 50-70k more and given these features from the base variant itself.

They weren't after a 'shock' pricing anyways.

[Samba]

In India whenever a C segment sedan is launched, we hope it to be priced below the Honda City. City is a good car no doubt, but a Slavia will be more of a drivers car than the City. We will want that added fun, but for that we are not ready to pay the extra.
The Yaris was a very well built car, but on the day of it's launch, I told the Toyota showroom guys, that Toyota's biggest mistake was pricing it more than the city. They gave me 100s of reasons, why it's better than the city and bla bla bla. I knew how good a C segment sedan may be, majority Indian customers have a major mind block with the Honda City. Only the Ciaz & Verna handled this segment in a very matured way.

Cars have gone really expensive, specially after the BS6 norms. Comparing the price of Slavia with Vento or Rapid from 2015/16 do not make sense. At that time Maruti Swift was priced around 5L & now it's well over 8L!

At the present scenario a person with a budget of 12-15L will see the I20, Venue/Sonet, Carens, Slavia, Nexon, Creta and what not! Customers now a days cross shop across all the segments & body types and pick the most practical one. Am not saying this is wrong. Definitely if I get more choice, I will see all the options. Who do not like to get spoilt by choice!
There are very few customers who know exactly what they want, a Sedan or a crossover or an Suv. Considering these factors Slavia will never sell like a hot cake. My estimation is, the monthly sales should hover around 800-1200 units per month. If they manage to sell 2000 units per month, it will be more than decent! I am kind of okay with the pricing, if they really give us a sorted & niggle free Slavia.

[sunikkat]

The review calls out the ride and handling being better than rivals and Kushaq. Infact mentions as benchmark in ride and handling in the segment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89vBOaRZlj8

Waiting for 1.5 TSI review, that will definitely be a hoot to drive - atleast in terms of power delivery.

[prateekvinayak]

Skoda seems to be becoming the jack of all trades namely brand value, VFM, built, quality, features list, resale and after-sales as opposed to their reputation of being masters of quality, driving dynamics and luxury on a budget. You've got to ask, why not just stick with the Kodiaqs and the Superbs and Octavias. They've come to the battlefield against the Koreans with one arm tied behind their backs. But ofcourse, the management knows what I don't

[RoverX]

Thanks for the review, team. The observations are pretty much in line with what I was expecting from the Slavia. Potent engines, attractive styling, long feature list, and a good ride and handling package (not in the Rapid / Vento league, though). Cost-cutting exercises are aplently - exposed boot hinge retraction channel, lighter build, clunky door shut sound (although every major review out there claims otherwise), strictly average quality of plastics, and the time-honoured Kushaq problem of squeaky interiors making it into the Slavia. Even the finish of the trim surrounding the central AC vents feels poor (image below); something that Tata is grilled for even on their cheaper offerings.

As much as I want to avoid the debate on whether or not the Slavia is fairly priced, I'd like to point out that the prices look good in isolation. The pricelist that was leaked a few weeks ago did a phenomenal job of giving a sticker shock and then normalising buyers' expectations. I suspect the same would be the case with the Style 1.5 twins, as well. What doesn't sit well with me is how Škoda is trying to draw parallels with the first-gen Octavia with the Slavia's positioning, while all its core values have been watered down. And after watching almost all the video reviews that have come up today, it seems Škoda really wants the reviewers to firmly imprint this comparison on the viewers mind. Renault tried a similar trick with the Captur that didn't go unnoticed, and I feel this false equivalency also shouldn't be given much weightage. Also, it doesn't matter how comprehensive the safety suite is on this car, the GNCAP test ratings are essential, more so for a car with such premium aspirations.

[Angad sahani]

Hi everyone, so i went to Jmd Skoda -Kandivali Mumbai this evening for a quick test drive of the Slavia 1.0 AT and 1.5 AT. I’ve never owned any car from the VAG group but have a lot of friends and family who do and I’ve driven the rapid manual and the vento 1.6 at . I’ll summarise what both variants of the Slavia felt like.
1- Perceived quality of materials and touch and feel is good if not the best and you can say they are atleast 70% of what you got from the vento/rapid.
2- The NVH levels from both the engines are fantastic and even revving the engines don’t make them sound very coarse. The 1.0 sounded more sporty while the 1.5 was a little boomy.
3- The car is loaded with kit and is on par with what other cars offer in the segment and in some cases ups them as well.
4- The music system is fantastic and has got good bass and isn’t too thumpy on higher volumes.
5- The suspension felt good and absorbent for the most part and you wouldn’t hear too much thuding and crashing over bumps.
6- Space at the back is good and definitely not the best. Legroom is good ( my way of benchmarking legroom is pushing the front seat all the way behind and seeing if i can fit at the back- i am 6.1 ft tall for reference)and headroom is decent. My head will definitely hit the top if if wear a full size turban and would need to slouch and sit a bit at most times. In my opinion it is strictly a 4 seater at the back because although skoda claims its the widest in the class it somehow doesn’t translate into actual seath width and two full size healthy adults will just about fit with the amrest down
Even for relatively thinner adults seating 5 would be a problem because the middle seat is narrow and protrudes out a lot which doesn’t allow one to squeeze a bit left and right for space.
7- The driving experience :-
1.0 AT- There is definitely a hint of turbo lag at the lower rev range but once the turbo spools up you would receive a nice linear surge of torque, not one that pushes you back into the seat but a gentle pull ahead. The gearbox is quick and smooth and almost finds the right gear, I couldn’t floor it much as the test drive was a short one and limited to a residential area all around so i went upto speeds of 60kmph. The gearbox switches into manual mode with a tug on the paddle shifters and it feels good to hold although the gearbox doesn’t hold gears till the redline and upshifts even in the manual mode.The brakes are good and have a decent bite,but somehow the pedal feel wasn’t that great and it doesn’t have a deep pedal travel . One interesting and odd thing that i felt was the creep mode in the 1.0.It is very jerky and doesn’t feel city traffic friendly as it climbs upto speed very quickly.
1.5 AT- The first thing that got my attention was that the creep mode in 1.5 is totally opposite of the 1.0 wherein the car barely moves ahead by itself and just goes upto 3-4kmph. Turbo lag was evident here as well but the gearbox takes care of it in most conditions if you floor it. The dsg box is smooth shifting and ready to drop gears quickly. I’ve heard a lot about dsgboxes being jerky in traffic but this isn’t something i felt here. Again the manual mode can be activated by a tug on the paddle shifters. For most city driving conditions and occasional heavy footed driving one wouldn’t miss the extra power from 1.5 , because atleast in my experience there is barely any noticeable difference in the city atleast ,this could totally vary on the highway and maybe with a full house. I felt that 1.5 revs a little more cleanly.
Either skoda has tuned the 1.0 to be quite aggressive or the 1.5 doesn’t have the grunt that its numbers suggest, i mean for an engine with an extra cylinder ,1.5 times the cubic capacity , almost 35 more hp and 70 nm torque the difference should be felt very easily.

Some common things across both the engines, the actual gearlever felt very good to hold in both and very seamlessly shifted from p to s without any slotting noises or vibrations.
The start stop system works well and very effortlessly without making its presence felt.

Again i will give Skoda a thumps up for the NVH levels especially the startup NVH which is bearly audible and will need one to look at the instrument cluster to realize the car is turned on.
8-The instrument cluster and the infotainment display are crisp and beautiful and graphics on both look great. The quality of the the touch on the infotainment is good and the connectivity is easy as the system pairs up with the phone easily and wireless carplay is a breeze to use. The wireless charging pad is in a good slot and still leaves room behind to keep other stuff in a non charger tray, although I wish there was an option to shut the wireless charging and switch it on based on the need. The infotainment is big and the colours do a good job to make the cabin looks stylish and techy( I have a big issue with audi having just black graphics for its main menu).
9- The driving position is good and the visibility from all angles is good.Seats go quite low and are supportive and cushioned well, actual comfort can only be determined on a longish drive, really appreciate the seat ventilation as the city is already getting hot.
10- I didn’t find the ac to be doing a good job considering the size of the car, maybe i am spoiled by Toyota.
11- The EPS is light and good to hold but frankly feels artificial, a test drive at a higher speed would reveal how good it would weigh up.
12- Car felt nimble and easy to drive but I can’t comment on the handling as I am no expert and neither did i drive it spiritedly to understand that aspect better.
13- 2 things that felt horrible 1- the horn of the car, there was a time you could distinguish a VAG car or the germans just by the horn,the current horn feels like its from a scooty. one that wouldn’t even be audible at higher speeds if the tyre noises increase.
2-The key felt like it was taken straight from a lower end hatchback, all blacked out, no chrome elements or metal and cheap plastic.
14- The car looks very good in some colours and feels cheap in some thanks to the wierd design from some angles, I would definitely prefer a sedan with filled up wheel arches and little lower ground clearance, but both those things were skipped in interests of appealing to the masses. The longish wheelbase deserves better and bigger alloys.
15- Oddly there is no boot release button in the car and one needs to unlock the car from inside and use the button on the trunk to open it when the ignition is on.


To anyone who has owned a VAG group car mainly the polo/vento/rapid and is looking to upgrade will need to be ready for a few compromises mainly in the build quality department but not to great extent . I think if not fully skoda has tried to retain a lot of what worked for it in the past while still being relatively modern. I am sure a lot of skoda owners won’t be happy with what all skoda has skipped out on, but lets be honest the rapid was selling for 10-12 years but was a good build enough to keep crowds coming after a point ? The answer is No.Only after skoda slashed prices released a cheap bare bones variant did the rapid pick up pace and look what happened to its sibling that took the other route, nobody asks for the vento today. Honda has played it safe and is offering a slightly more tuned variant in 2020 of the same engine one could buy back in 2009 with just a 10 bhp bump in power and yes like skoda even their quality took a hit. But customers kept their faith and the 5th gen car is built better than gen 4. Lets hope skoda learns that and keeps the masses happy by timely facelifts and generation changes and most definitely a reliable and comfortable ownership experience.
Yes skoda could have done better, but yet has done a good job in trying to get a sedan that is worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with all the compact suvs.

[Angad sahani]

Also from the conversation with the sales executive the 1.5 tsi is going to dearer by around 2 lakh rupees but will still undercut the kushaq by atleast 60-70k, so expect the 1.5 dsg for around 20.5 lk OTR Mumbai.
Both the 1.0 and 1.5 will have a waiting period of around 1-1.5 months as per current bookings and deliveries will begin next week.
Most variants being booked are 1.0 active and and style and few takers for the 1.5 ,while the automatics are preferred choice for most. Also for now they are doing only dealership level test drives and home test drives will begin only after the intial footfall reduces.

[sanyog26]

Some glimses from FansOfSkoda event held shortly after the launch of the Slavia on 28/02/2022.



















#DriveWithSlavia is slated to take place on the morning of 01/03/2022 in Goa.

[motorworks]

Excellent review! To be honest, this is the most neutral review I have heard of the Slavia! Very unbiased which has always been the hallmark of all our team bhp reviews.

Now, coming to the Slavia, I think Skoda is trying to play to the masses now. The car is fairly well equipped, nothing fancy or novel, but they have covered all bases that the common folks look for today. A 10” head unit, Wireless charging, a decent sunroof and the likes. Also, unlike the Kushaq which visibly seemed smaller than its rivals, the Slavia is almost the same length as the Honda City, has great road presence too.

The real question is whether the Slavia is a true German car and may be it’s not. It’s made for india, so there are bound to be places where Skoda would have had to cut corners. It’s the business reality, isn’t it? We all went crazy over the Seltos when it was launched, but now all we hear about Kia in our forums are things like the disappointing crash rating and sub-par build quality.

And to all the folks who keep saying buy the Rapid or Polo before it goes out of stock, I mean, where were you guys for the last 10 years? The Vento, Polo and Rapid were anyway dying a slow death with abysmal sales numbers. I owned a Rapid diesel for 6 years, lived with issues like Turbo failure, EGR failure, steering rack failure and what not. Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed driving the car, but it certainly wasn’t an easy experience to live with such massive issues. I was lucky that the above issues which I highlighted were covered under warranty.

Anyway, my point being, we cannot delve in the past. The Rapid, Vento and Polo were good, but would not sustain the requirements of the new age customers. So Skoda and VW come out with new cars, which I feel are more like a “middle of the road” approach, decent build quality, sorted dynamics, adequate features, but also compromises in certain places. Would the Slavia be the better choice than the City? Well it may not, the City has been here forever, but the Slavia is now a great alternative.

I did not appreciate the Kushaq and Taigun, mainly because I saw no reason for Skoda and VW to make a visibly smaller looking car and command the same price as it’s rivals. But with the Slavia and Virtus, it’s seems like more “par for the course”.

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

The review calls out the ride and handling being better than rivals and Kushaq. Infact mentions as benchmark in ride and handling in the segment.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=89vBOaRZlj8

Waiting for 1.5 TSI review, that will definitely be a hoot to drive - atleast in terms of power delivery.

The same review also features the front tire of the test vehicle lifting off around a corner.

[GKR9900]

Ok..so let me get this straight. With the Slavia, Skoda has undercut the Kushaq with a presumably better packaging only to lose customers to the City when it comes to real VFM? That's kind of an awkward place to be!

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by Raskolnikov

The same review also features the front tire of the test vehicle lifting off around a corner.

We don’t know the speed they are carrying in corners. Any car will have a break in point, and at what level it is we need to see. We don’t see many car reviews where they test like this, and still giving a positive feedback. As said I don’t expect it to be fun to drive as Rapid, but I am sure it will definitely be better than anything in that price bracket in terms of ride and handling.
I think it’s time for us to go test drive and see it by ourselves and conclude based on one’s priorities.

Originally Posted by GKR9900

Ok..so let me get this straight. With the Slavia, Skoda has undercut the Kushaq with a presumably better packaging only to lose customers to the City when it comes to real VFM? That's kind of an awkward place to be!

My view might be a bit pre-mature, but thinking on line - how much Skoda / VW will be investing additional on these sedans over SUVs. If there are not much operating cost difference, a combined unit of 4K (Kushaq+Slavia) might still bring in good profit for them. Now for us it is 2 different cars and for them it might be 1 lot which is bringing in cash. Now with these new launches Skoda is definitely seeing numbers which they haven’t in all these years - it’s a different thing whether enthusiasts are happy or not.

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

We don’t know the speed they are carrying in corners. Any car will have a break in point, and at what level it is we need to see. We don’t see many car reviews where they test like this, and still giving a positive feedback. As said I don’t expect it to be fun to drive as Rapid, but I am sure it will definitely be better than anything in that price bracket in terms of ride and handling.
I think it’s time for us to go test drive and see it by ourselves and conclude based on one’s priorities.



My view might be a bit pre-mature, but thinking on line - how much Skoda / VW will be investing additional on these sedans over SUVs. If there are not much operating cost difference, a combined unit of 4K (Kushaq+Slavia) might still bring in good profit for them. Now for us it is 2 different cars and for them it might be 1 lot which is bringing in cash. Now with these new launches Skoda is definitely seeing numbers which they haven’t in all these years - it’s a different thing whether enthusiasts are happy or not.

You are right. Apparently there was a sharp bump at the corner entry.