Interesting comment about Skoda in todays newspapers

[K1W1]

In the Drive section of today's Melbourne Age (and I assume the SMH) there is a story about Opel starting up in Australia.
Within the story there is a comment about Skoda being a brand that has spent a lot of money and not got very far in this market. I think it reflects the disappointment that many of us probably feel about the relative lack of sales to date but it's interesting that this perception has carried into the motoring press and is now being spread into the wider market.

[Gti Dave]

Man that's a real bummer. I gues I've been in denial all this time then. But in Skoda's defence, i have been seeing a lot more Skoda's recently though (but no where near as much as mk6 Golf Gti's and Golf R's though)

[woofy]

I would say one of the biggest issues is complete lack of any shred of service from Skoda HQ. Followed closely by very low or non existent stocks since 2008. They make it too hard to own one.

[Gti Dave]

I would say one of the biggest issues is complete lack of any shred of service from Skoda HQ. Followed closely by very low or non existent stocks since 2008. They make it too hard to own one.

I second that since just getting some simple replacement plastic clips or badges meant ordering from NSW every time with nil parts locally. From the sounds of it I think they only have general parts that are part of the maintanence programme and that's about it.

[stormshark]

Its a bummer, i have been thinking of a Skoda Octavia VRs Wagon for some time now,i regularly scope your section and this is my exact concern(service and backup,not resale) particularly being in the provinces. These guys should be treating existing owners with kid gloves, not just for repeat sales but to "Fly the Flag!". Will be a very hard decision i think, when really the decision should mainly be about the quality of the product which i think speaks for itself- shame about the post purchase stuff .

[hmoon101]

It really is a bummer and the after sales service from any Skoda dealer is very poor. Sometime last year, I needed to buy a bottle of VW G12+ coolant for top up the reservoir. After I sent 5 emails to all Skoda dealers in VIC, I only had one reply, saying that "VW G12+ coolant is a VW product and please contact nearest VW dealer. We do not carry any VW stuffs".
I ended up buying a bottle on evil-bay and have been questioning about the customer service of Skoda products. I know the product itself is very good and speak for itself but I am still not convinced to buy another Skoda after three years of warranty on my Octavia expires.

[woofy]

Parts get in relatively quick, I had two new headlights in the early days, and the grill that covers the front tweeter speakers was replaced in a day after telling them about it. It all depends on what bits you need.

[dArK5HaD0w]

It really is a bummer and the after sales service from any Skoda dealer is very poor.......
I know the product itself is very good and speak for itself but I am still not convinced to buy another Skoda after three years of warranty on my Octavia expires.

its a shame u got the wrong end of the stick, but it doesn't mean u can go on and generalise that comment across all skoda dealers!

i've got an awesome dealer and great service here - Colin @ Lennock Skoda. Highly recommended.
quick to help, checking up on you and friendly service.

[dru]

I also got superb service with Wes @ Trivett Skoda! Can't recommend him enough

[gldgti]

Even though the top management is clearly doing something wrong - for those of us "in the know" it realyl shouldnt make owning a skoda any more difficult.

for instance, if you know a part is a vw part, then chase the vw part through a vw parts supplier. OK, so body panels or trim parts are going to have to come through skoda, but anything mechanical can come straight through VW. I know it doesnt help the "ordinary user" but surely enthusasts can manage.

I've been buying all my service parts through aftermarket suppliers anyway (tooley imports).

[BluChris]

Not forgetting, if you keep your car after the warranty expires you go wherever you want for service and repairs. At the moment I am trying the local VW dealer, who has already fixed one issue (at no cost too) that 2 Skoda dealers were clueless about.

[Rosie]

The Age comment was, “Skoda is a recent example of a brand that’s spent plenty of money, but still has only modest sales.”

I don’t think the author is being realistic when saying “plenty of money”. Toyota, and VW spend “plenty of money” on advertising. Skoda has spent a bit, but the bulk of their advertising budget seems to have been spent each year over the same three weeks during the Tour de France, which is shown on Australian TV between 10:30 at night and ridiculous o’clock in the early morning.

I disagree with K1W1 as to, “…this perception has carried into the motoring press and is now being spread into the wider market.” Skoda’s Australian sales figures are no perception. The figures demonstrate the reality of the situation, but modest sales are better than low sales, or dismal sales, and K1W1 says that these figures are “relatively low”, but doesn’t say relative to what factors.

That the comments here went immediately to service and customer back up doesn’t surprise me, but I agree with Woofy that seemingly only service spares and most common accessories are readily available. In today’s financial climate this is the same in most industries. I wouldn’t mind a dollar for every time I’ve heard, “I’ll have to order that in for you”. Usually followed by either a request for a substantial deposit, or payment in full. Businesses don’t want to spent large sums of money to have stock sitting on shelves in expensive warehousing. There are no stand alone Skoda dealerships. They are all part of a “motor group” selling several makes. These groups carry too many makes to keep anything other than basics at the dealership. Even for those they often have a warehouse at at Woop Woop where the rents are low, and only transfer confirmed orders to the dealership for pick up.

Like many of us I think Skoda Australia HQ is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. I don’t know the nature of the relationship between Skoda CZ and Skoda AUS, but if it is within their scope I’d love to see the former swing the axe, and get some national management down here that thinks beyond selling franchises, and blowing most of the annual advertising budget over the same three weeks each year on TV ads that target only hard core cycling fans and insomniacs.

[ausspace87]

The Age comment was, “Skoda is a recent example of a brand that’s spent plenty of money, but still has only modest sales.”

I don’t think the author is being realistic when saying “plenty of money”. Toyota, and VW spend “plenty of money” on advertising. Skoda has spent a bit, but the bulk of their advertising budget seems to have been spent each year over the same three weeks during the Tour de France, which is shown on Australian TV between 10:30 at night and ridiculous o’clock in the early morning.

I disagree with K1W1 as to, “…this perception has carried into the motoring press and is now being spread into the wider market.” Skoda’s Australian sales figures are no perception. The figures demonstrate the reality of the situation, but modest sales are better than low sales, or dismal sales, and K1W1 says that these figures are “relatively low”, but doesn’t say relative to what factors.

That the comments here went immediately to service and customer back up doesn’t surprise me, but I agree with Woofy that seemingly only service spares and most common accessories are readily available. In today’s financial climate this is the same in most industries. I wouldn’t mind a dollar for every time I’ve heard, “I’ll have to order that in for you”. Usually followed by either a request for a substantial deposit, or payment in full. Businesses don’t want to spent large sums of money to have stock sitting on shelves in expensive warehousing. There are no stand alone Skoda dealerships. They are all part of a “motor group” selling several makes. These groups carry too many makes to keep anything other than basics at the dealership. Even for those they often have a warehouse at at Woop Woop where the rents are low, and only transfer confirmed orders to the dealership for pick up.

Like many of us I think Skoda Australia HQ is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. I don’t know the nature of the relationship between Skoda CZ and Skoda AUS, but if it is within their scope I’d love to see the former swing the axe, and get some national management down here that thinks beyond selling franchises, and blowing most of the annual advertising budget over the same three weeks each year on TV ads that target only hard core cycling fans and insomniacs.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Totally agree.

[RSwag]

I agree with Rosie and Kiwi, and I am frustrated by the small sighted view that Skoda are doing really well because they have increased sales by 41% year on year. Sounds phenomenal but the reality is they are figures that disguise the truth. The truth is for the segments they compete in they have consistently failed to gain market share. They have increased sales over certain periods e.g. August 2011 but so did most manufacturers in the same segments, it's not a big achievement after four years.

The brand is no more known today than it was in 2007, the people in the know own and recommend it but for everyone else in Oz it might as well be called shabangabang as it would be just as obscure to the general public as it is now.

Pricing, marketing and it's own HQ's inability to understand the market it is in have all added up to one big disappointment for all of us who wanted to see Skoda do well.

Fingers crossed the powers that be can start thinking in terms of market share per model, try a canivorous approach to sales and eating market share per segment.

[VAG newbie]

As much as I'd like to agree with you, there is still a factor I never wanted to face before, but it's as real as it gets.

The fact is, Skoda makes very sensible, practical and reliable, but unsexy cars. This may have killed sales.

After my aggressive campaigning to my parents, explaining how good Skoda is nowadays, showing them all the reviews and awards Skoda has received, at a driveaway price of $26985 on the 90TSI with DSG, plus the 2.8% finance, they were pretty much sold on the car, except after I show them the photos of the Octy, they gave up. I won't quote the word they used as it will offend many Octavia owner here, but it's something along the line of it being unsexy

I also have another colleague, he read a lot about Skoda, and I also told him how good Skoda is, he got really interested in the Yeti. So when our local dealer had the Yeti for a limited time, he went and looked at it (couldn't test drive it as it was NZ spec)! He gave up right away, saying it's not that impressive (of course not, he didn't drive it, but just based on the look!) so he is now looking into some of the Korean SUVs....

I know beauty is totally subjective, but I believe most of you bought the Skoda is because you can see beyond it's styling. It might be the German engineering that attracted you, or the "simply clever" practicality that attracted you, or it might be value for money that attracted you, but I wonder how many of you bought the Skoda because of it's styling? If the same styling is found on a Korean car, would you buy it? (Although I must say I quite like the styling of Superb, except I still won't buy it if it's Korean)

It's a sad fact, that many people out there just cares for outward beauty! So I believe even if Skoda put ads on the front page of every newspaper, or showing on TV commercial every 5 min, I doubt it will increase sale by much more. People who are practical and can see beyond badge will know about Skoda. However, if they come up with some nice, cool looking car (like some of their concept cars), and price it right, then sales will definitely go up. Personally I think they have a very good chance with the Fabia Monte Carlo, only that they need DSG and cut the price by another $3000! And asking VW to stop dropping the price of their cars!