[tanmay_ambre]

and we are still discussing Fabia. I would love to revise the Hero Honda slogan

Discuss it, see it, forget it...


original was Fill it, shut it, forget it (or something like that)...

[tamilzu]

Hello BHPians,

I recently read Fabia review in Economic times. ET seems quite impressed with the car. It even went on to say that Fabia might even challenge Aveos , vernas ,Sx4 and city(I am not sure about this one though)
Skoda Fabia packs in lot of punch with right features- Consumer Life-The Sunday ET-ET Features-The Economic Times

I saw a similar review in IBN live(CNN IBN
The Auto Show: What's hot about Skoda Fabia

That lady whod did the review went on and on about how great the car is. She also predicted that it would be winner in its category.

I even thought for a moment to go for fabia and cancel my Vdi booking.After reading your posts here,I could see that not all BHPians are impressed with Fabia.I have resisted my temptation. I am wondering Why do we have this contradiction. On one side, Media love Fabia but our BHPians(not all of them) are less than impressed.. Why?

Confused (you may say)
Tamilzu

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by tamilzu

I am wondering Why do we have this contradiction. On one side, Media love Fabia but our BHPians(not all of them) are less than impressed.. Why?

Let me clarify one of the points behind this phenomenon, the Media needs manufacturer support to get the new cars to drive them around & show the viewers they are up to date on the latest developments but more importantly they also need the Advertising revenue that the manufacturer will give them by advertising on their channel/show. So there is a natural conflict of interest there, just think how can you be totally honest about a product when on the back of your mind you know that a very adverse (read as totally honest!) review could mean heavy losses to the channel/show in the form of lost advertising revenue.

That is part of the reason why you'll ever see any of these media outlets criticising a car from any manufacturer & this is also partly why most of us don't trust any of the Indian auto magazines.

As for BHPian's differing from the channels well that's because we don't care about what we get out of reviewing a car honestly & hence criticise it where it needs to criticised & praise it where it needs to be praised! Simple!

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by tamilzu

After reading your posts here,I could see that not all BHPians are impressed with Fabia.I have resisted my temptation. I am wondering Why do we have this contradiction. On one side, Media love Fabia but our BHPians(not all of them) are less than impressed.. Why?

One reason could be that many of us feel that the car is not really VFM. Something similar happened with Getz as well. Given the features that both these cars come with, the price is too high to justify the rational, (more or less) price sensitive Indian consumer.

e.g. at the price of 1.1L Getz, once can get a 1.3L Swift. Similarly, at the price of Fabia, once can think of buying an upper segment car. and with length of car being directly proportionate to 'status symbol' in India, one thinks twice before paying that high a price for a 'smaller' car.

Another reason could be the high maintainance and after sales cost of Skoda cars.

[tamilzu]

Iraghava and Nishantgandhi,

Got it loud and clear!!

Thanks a lot.

[amit27]

One more thing about media praising the Fabia , they don't have to pay to own and service the car however to NDTV's credit they did mention about Skoda's need to get After Sales service right .

[maxbhp]

This is to all the people who's been telling fabia is too expensive. Now imagine if they had priced it near to Swift, say 6 OTR for the Classic version, what do you think the sales gonna be like ? 1000-2000-3000 ? do you think its gonna stop at that ? They are in no way in a position to cater to such a demand.
Lemme come to my second point. Please try sitting in both the cars for a ride . In all the seats. In the front the swift may be alright but at the back there is no comparison.
Thirdly , the car is heavy , the car is stable ,the car reeks of quality when it comes to fit and finish.
To top that all this is one car which rides well , I mean quite well.

For all this dont you think you have to give atleast 80K more ? and add 20K for air bags. So to me 6.7 would be a really fair pricing.
@ 7.2 on the road its slightly overpriced but not heavily overpriced like how many had quoted.

Two days back I had been travelling with my friend in his fabia , When we had stopped somewhere a guy comes in checks out the car and he was pretty impressed by the car , he asked me the price I told him its 8.1 OTR but you get quite a loaded car for 7.4 too . The guy totally gives it a thumbs down. Now it gets interesting for me and I went forward and asked the guy to quote a price for it . He said anything above 6 lacs for the car is daylight robbery by skoda. I took my time and explained him in detail the inherent strengths of the car. After a while he acknowledged my opinion.

Am not saying am right but I do think its a nice car which is slightly overpriced and not "heavily".

You can in no way compare this to swift. Please try out both the car am sure you'll understand what am trying to say. This is one hatch which you can easily take for a 600Km ride without getting too tired or uncomfortable, now by that I didnt mean one cannot do the same in a swift. You can but there is difference. Am not trying to debate on the same .

[tanmay_ambre]

@maxbhp

I think pricing makes a whole lot of difference. Various factors. For e.g:

1. Buying a car for a short term (this trend is increasing nowadays)
2. Buying a second car for additional conveyance
3. Have a limited budget and want to make most of it
4. If I have a budget above 8L, I won't be thinking a hatchback, I will try to move up the segment ladder)
5. Also the kind of price tag that is associated with a hatchback has created a mindset (its all over the world) and people will not like to spend so much on a hatchback if by shelling out the same, i can get a bigger car.

I think these factors will affect Fabia sales. If they want to create a mass market, they have to justify their car is a VFM. Which at that price band doesn't seem so.

[maxbhp]

Originally Posted by tanmay_ambre

If they want to create a mass market, they have to justify their car is a VFM. Which at that price band doesn't seem so.

Presently they can never cater to the mass. Thats the whole point . There is no way they can make 5000 cars a month. Do you think skoda has the capacity to get 60000 fabias in India.
Second question is do you think they can serve such a huge customer base with their existing chain of outlets ?

The truth is whatever you may say Skoda has cleanly kept the car for the privileged. Its meant for people who dont mind paying a bit more for quality.
Its meant for people who'd buy Hertz instead of Xplod. Both produce the same thing, thats sound but the quality of reproduction is totally different. For better sound you gotta pay more.

MAybe lateron when they get their setup in order they will get a cheaper variant of Fabia . Just wait and watch. It may not be as cheap as Swift but it'd be def. close to that.

[skmami]

Originally Posted by tamilzu

I even thought for a moment to go for fabia and cancel my Vdi booking.After reading your posts here,I could see that not all BHPians are impressed with Fabia.I have resisted my temptation. I am wondering Why do we have this contradiction. On one side, Media love Fabia but our BHPians(not all of them) are less than impressed.. Why?

Confused (you may say)
Tamilzu

You brought up very good question.

When I bought two cars in US I just simply went and bought the cars without doing any research of my own because I trust organizations (ex. Consumer Reports) that do the reviews because they buy the cars on their own dime. Their revenue comes from people buying those magazines. I don't think this concept is transparent in India considering the corruption exists in all levels of our society.

I was in the market to buy a car for my dad in India and I have been researching Indian market for a car and came across this Fabia by Skoda.

There are many reports that I found in the Indian media that are either outright false or not accurate.

For example: lets take this ET article you have posted. If you read that with fine tooth comb, the reviewer says it has the automatic climate control. As far as my research is concerned the Indian Fabia does not have this. It is called Semi Automatic to lure people in Fabia Brochure.

Ordinary people who are not car enthusiasts might find this to be true because they don't know what the real automatic climate control means or how it looks like which is why I think car manufacturers in India are robbing people in daylight with exorbitant price tags.


For the price of Skoda Fabia higher-end I can buy the Honda Accord higher end in the US. I know things are different in US and India(excise tax) when it comes to the price but still I don't think it should be that different considering the manufacturers have to pay in Dollars to the people who are in the chain of selling the product and the labor costs are also expensive in the US.

I just don't understand.

[raul]

I just don't understand

Join the club.

[rev up..]

Originally Posted by NIP

hmm...nice observation. here's what i think: swift is a cheap copy of the mini. maybe. but fabia is a cheaper copy of the swift, and looks like they screwed up with it badly. now hows that for another POV ?

oh come on dude!! you are just saying that coz you HAD to say something. i might second it if someone says it looks like the getz coz there are similarities there. but NO..besides being a hatch, swift and fabia look completely different. its just your prejudice against the car saying that.

[rev up..]

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

My apologies. I havent yet seen his car and just believed his word. I guess he must have bought the Classic model which is at INR 7.42 lacs. For a guy at 72 years, I guess a factory fitted MP3 player, power windows etc qualify as 'top end'

hehehehe..
that must be the case...diesel high-end cant be that cheap..

[srishiva]

@maxbhp, Are you saying Skoda priced it higher because it doesn't want higher sales ?

Regarding the complaint that people in India need to have a trunk as 'status symbol' - In India most people buy one car for the whole family. A trunk makes a big difference. There are fewer people who buy cars just for fun and might look at a hatch, quality and all that.
Thats the reason people buy hatches when they are priced right.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by skmami

For example: lets take this ET article you have posted. If you read that with fine tooth comb, the reviewer says it has the automatic climate control. As far as my research is concerned the Indian Fabia does not have this. It is called Semi Automatic to lure people in Fabia Brochure.

it is automatic air- conditioning but only difference is there are not 'buttons' instead of the buttons and a digital display there is a knob, through which you can set the temperature.
So as you mentioned it is 'inaccurate' but definately not wrong.

Originally Posted by skmami

Ordinary people who are not car enthusiasts might find this to be true because they don't know what the real automatic climate control means or how it looks like which is why I think car manufacturers in India are robbing people in daylight with exorbitant price tags.

1) this is not robbing. . . i think you have a personal grudge against skoda, and if the car is expensive . . .please do not buy it. According to me the pricing of the Fabia is expensive . . i do believe you, but the point is if i want that quality, that quality finish i have to pay more.

Originally Posted by skmami

For the price of Skoda Fabia higher-end I can buy the Honda Accord higher end in the US. I know things are different in US and India(excise tax) when it comes to the price but still I don't think it should be that different considering the manufacturers have to pay in Dollars to the people who are in the chain of selling the product and the labor costs are also expensive in the US.

blame the taxation system here. .
and at 5000% dollors you can get a very GOOD second hand car . . which means 2 lacs here the entry price for cars. . .

i know the fabia is expensive, but i think people who can afford this car will buy it as for them it is value for money.

secondly people on this site, i expect only 25% to be prospective buyers, balance are people who cant afford this car and are judging the car purely by virtue of an outsider. Once you are in the range of affording this car, then you will have a different view all together . . so i request you to 'change' your opinion after carefull consideration.