Fabia prices now up...

[Jake02]

That's how they killed the Roomster!

It was a combination of things that killed the Roomster and while yes pricing was one issue, do you think that the product itself had something to do with it?

[VAG newbie]

It was a combination of things that killed the Roomster and while yes pricing was one issue, do you think that the product itself had something to do with it?

It probably has. But I don't think it is as big factor as the price. Many people comment on it's styling being too weird and ugly. But there are still a lot of people out there that will see beyond styling and focus on practicality. If it wasn't $30,000, but more like under $20,000, with DSG option, with the room it has, power, fuel efficiency, practicality, I am sure it would sell much better. In fact, the more you look at roomster, the more it will grow on you. So it's not that ugly.

But at $30,000, there are far more better cars in the market.

[brad]

You will be surprised that Skoda's are not as negotiable as most people think. It's mainly because they don't have cars in stock! My experience has been that VW will offer more discounts than Skoda.

But the worst thing Skoda can do, is set the RRP unrealistically too high and offer massive discounts at the end. It will really hurt resale! That's how they killed the roomster!

I can only speak from my own experience when i bought in 2008. I got about $6k off the car & $4k more trade-in than VW was offering. In the end my change-over (the important figure) was $17k; changeover on an equivalent Golf was $23k.

I would have bought a Roomster if it had either a 2.0L diesel or a decent petrol engine. The looks are certainly an aquired taste though.

[VAG newbie]

I can only speak from my own experience when i bought in 2008. I got about $6k off the car & $4k more trade-in than VW was offering. In the end my change-over (the important figure) was $17k; changeover on an equivalent Golf was $23k.

I would have bought a Roomster if it had either a 2.0L diesel or a decent petrol engine. The looks are certainly an aquired taste though.

That explains it. In 2008 I think Skoda was still struggling. Did you get a stocked car or factory order? I used corporate plus discount and a broker, I could only get $5k off on a Superb Elegance TDI. As they are a bit more popular now and dealers are struggling to get cars in stock, the discounts probably won't be that sweet anymore.

On a side note, you know how Renault's sales is about twice as much as Skoda in Aug (they used be about the same, sometimes Renault is worse)? Looks like switching to Korea is a right move by Renault. Average Aussies don't know how to appreciate and don't care about good cars. Look at how successful Holden have been by going to Korea, and that awful Cruze could be one of the top selling cars!

This only proves one point. Price is everything! I bet in a few years, Chery and Geely will be selling thousands while we Skoda fans will remain here trying to defend how good Skoda cars are.

[woofy]

I don't defend anything, I know my car rocks, everyone who sees it or comes in contact with it knows it as well. I personally don't care how many cars Skoda sells as long as they survive, I don't spare a second thought for any twit who has parted money to buy Cruzes or a Chery just as long as I have don't have a choice but to have one as a hire car when I'm not in my home state....

In 2008 yes they were doing good deals, you will always get a better one if you take stock, and towards the end of the year the deals always get better as well. I got my RS with front sensors, sunroof and metallic paint for $37k driveaway but I haven't actually ever bought a car for more than the RRP driveaway. I also had an extra 2k thrown in on the tradein by VWA as well so was laughing...that was when they were doing free ORC though which happens about now every year so can't see why I couldn't get the same deal again as long as I take this years stock.

[pologti18t]

I do know that the deal i was offered on a 2011 Oct RS of 38K was a sizeable discount on RRP+ORC. It was also far easier to extract than a similar discount on a VW Golf

The roomster's death can be attributed to the drivetrains offered. Old model diesel - manual only. Underpowered petrol.
If it was offered with the 2L 110kw petrol engine (non-turbo) and a 6 speed torque converter auto it would probably have sold better.

[brad]

That explains it. In 2008 I think Skoda was still struggling. Did you get a stocked car or factory order? I used corporate plus discount and a broker, I could only get $5k off on a Superb Elegance TDI. As they are a bit more popular now and dealers are struggling to get cars in stock, the discounts probably won't be that sweet anymore.

yes, my car was in stock. So was the VW. I can only go on my buying experience, as you are on yours.

On a side note, you know how Renault's sales is about twice as much as Skoda in Aug (they used be about the same, sometimes Renault is worse)? Looks like switching to Korea is a right move by Renault. Average Aussies don't know how to appreciate and don't care about good cars. Look at how successful Holden have been by going to Korea, and that awful Cruze could be one of the top selling cars!

Are you sure about those sales figures? I thought Renault were consistantly 50%-75% more than Skoda.
While Renault going to Korea might work in the short term, I think long term it will bite them. If I buy a Renault I want a French car (or at least vaguely European), not a Korean car with French car operating costs. I think it will put off the rusted-on Renault supporters & the new customers will be somewhat ethereal.

This only proves one point. Price is everything! I bet in a few years, Chery and Geely will be selling thousands while we Skoda fans will remain here trying to defend how good Skoda cars are.

If price was everything then why do BMWs & Mercedes sell like they do? Why do manufacturers keep trying to position their vehicles closer to the luxury end of the market (look at how Hyundai keep re-positioning their product).

[VAG newbie]

I probably exaggerated a bit. The sales figure for Renault and Skoda in Q1, 2011 are 576 and 406 respectively. So while not the about the same, the difference is only 20-30%, not twice.

Merc and Bimmer are different. They are premium brand cars and we can't compare Skoda's with them in terms of price. We are talking different market! A 1 series buyer will never look at Honda Jazz or Mazda 2, not even a Polo or Fiesta. Skoda is known for value for money, and at the bottom end, price is everything.

What's worse, is I just learned from Cory_R, that Fabia only has 4 star despite having 6SRS, and more likely to be 3 star in the new EuroNCAP. This makes it's $18990 RRP more unjustifiable.

[brad]

Oh well, you should have said "Price is everything, except when it isn't"

Skoda isn't marketed in Australia as being the cheapest car. Matthew Weissner prefers to market Skoda as the entry level for people that want a brand new European car.

As the "car nut" among my group of friends, I'm often asked what car to buy. Generally I point them to the Toyota or Honda store because their main concern is reliability followed by stable (not necessarilly cheap) running costs. They were all surprised when i bought a Czech car rather than something Japanese.

[pologti18t]

What's worse, is I just learned from Cory_R, that Fabia only has 4 star despite having 6SRS, and more likely to be 3 star in the new EuroNCAP. This makes it's $18990 RRP more unjustifiable.

If people would read the ncap report you will find where the car lost points in the crash test that lead to a 4 star rating. Not to mention this is the 2007 version of what is now a 2011 model.

[VAG newbie]

Oh well, you should have said "Price is everything, except when it isn't"

Skoda isn't marketed in Australia as being the cheapest car. Matthew Weissner prefers to market Skoda as the entry level for people that want a brand new European car.

As the "car nut" among my group of friends, I'm often asked what car to buy. Generally I point them to the Toyota or Honda store because their main concern is reliability followed by stable (not necessarilly cheap) running costs. They were all surprised when i bought a Czech car rather than something Japanese.

Yeah, I guess the main selling point has to be that you get a Euro machine with turbo charged engine, and with auto you get DSG rather than conventional 4-5 speed auto. My friend just bought a Golf 77TSI with the same engine, and he was so impressed with the performance that he says he can't go back to Japanese anymore. So the key is to get people behind the wheel! But I'm afraid with that $18990 sticker price will scare a lot of people away and they will never get behind one.....

[RSwag]

In the age today there was a lift out with a one page ad for the Monte Carlo, from $25,490 D/Away.

I could have fallen off my chair, that's Golf territory, Mazda 3, Octavia 1.4 even!! I read a comment here saying the head if SkOda is aiming to have the brand seen as an entry level euro, not a jap fighter and priced as such and that this is his grand plan for success. Well we can see how well his plan has worked so far, most people would bs hard pressed to tell you what a Skoda is let alone look at one to buy.

VW floundered for many years in OZ until the repricing in 2004/5 when the new generation model line up arrived. Priced dropped, people saw good value in them being 3-4k more than the jap equivalent and they sold. For Skoda to fit into this market it needs to price out the same as it's jap equivalent e.g. Suzuki Swift, Mazda 2. Anything above this why would anyone bother, thre would be nothing else compelling them to buy it other than it looks different to everyone else and then it will become the true niche brand they are driving it to be.

As I mentioned in previous posts this car will not sell at this price, $20k and under otherwise it was best to leave them for the o/s market. I can't imagine how this vehicle ended up at this price, the euro is depressed and the Oz dollar is sky high, someone has no business sense if ghis is the outcome from the best import conditions this country has ever seen.

It just goes to show that fish rot from the head down, VW Aust are allowing this brand to stumble in a market where it could quite easily be doing quite well.

Very sad

[VAG newbie]

Very sad indeed! Just browsed through carsales.com, a lot of Golf 77TSI with DSG is selling for $24490 driveaway, and cars are in stock for immediate delivery. These are just advertised price and I'm sure there are still room for negotiation.

With a basic Fabia, you are already looking at $22500 driveaway, when you add DSG, it will be over $25000. Small cars usually don't have a lot of room for negotiation, especially if they don't have anything in stock. So unless Skoda Aus is giving huge factory bonuses on the Fabia, it will cost about the same, if not more than a Golf.

Looks like I'll recommend my parents to go for a Golf, which is bigger and safer car than the Fabia, and also carries much better brand image and resale value. So even for a big Skoda fan like me would turn away from Fabia, I don't see how average Aussie will buy one.

I think after a few months of sluggish sale, the price will come down! Skoda Aus will realize $16990 is more realistic, and alloy wheel and Swing radio will become standard, just like the Superb. Then when sale picks up, the price will rise again.

[Jake02]

I agree it's too high for what you get (the 77TSI anyway) but it's still no higher than the other Euro competitors (Fiesta, Polo, C3, etc, they just always have sales on)! It's also the same story with all car classes - the high-end competitors are always priced just above the starting models from the higher class and they come with comparatively little equipment. The reason the Golf 77TSI is on currently sale is because there's too little power/equipment and everyone buys the better Golfs (90/Bluemotion/118/103/GTI/GTD/R) so they have a lot of stock. The most common Golf I see is the 118TSI with the sports package - they're everywhere around my area! VAG Newbie get your parents out of a Fabia and into a Golf/Octavia 90TSI (DSGs are $26,990 driveaway at the moment) which come with far more equipment and with 13 extra kW and 200cc more they're bound to be a much better car! I'll be waiting for the Fabia RS however at its predicted $26k (+orc) price .

And hey, Skoda Aus predict selling more Yetis so perhaps they don't care that much about the Fabia, but it's nice to know that they'll sell more of them than Citroen are with C3s (I've only ever seen one on the road)!

[RSwag]

@Jake02

Not to be a smart a$&e but your arguement for the Golf being heavily discounted just spells DOOM for the Yeti.
If the 77kw 1.2tsi is a dud for VW and stock levels are piling up and they are throwing heavy discounts at them..............well I hate to say it but the Yeti will be a dud too.

The reality is VW couldn't give a flog about Skoda here in Oz if it works it works and if it flounders, well so be it. Big things like the 4 star safety ratings, the euro ncap is based in 2-4 airbag cars and no ESP. If they valued this market they would give 2 cars to the ancap team with the OZ standard spec of 6 bags, ESP etc and get the 5 star we know they are. The fact they dont and then price it at the high end if the market competing with the best small car in the world suggest they dont care Or they dont understand the market they are in, I really don't know which one is worse?!

If a reprice is on the cards then again it is just madness not to come to market with the right price straight up. It is really disappointing to see what is a deserving brand just flounder in one of the best economies globally and it appears to be glaringly obvious things that hinder it's success, advertising, pricing, dealernetwork.