Rumoured Golf pricing bad news for Skoda?

[K1W1]

The SMH and Age are reporting that when then new Golf pricing for Australia is announced in April there may be a model starting at under $20,000.

This can't be good news for Skoda sales with the current pricing of both Fabia and Octavia models so I'm picking that there may be some radical repositioning about to happen. I for one would not be recommending a Skoda to anybody I cared about in the short term.

[Tigger]

I for one would not be recommending a Skoda to anybody I cared about in the short term.

That is an odd thing to say, seeing as you seem to like your skoda?

[K1W1]

That is an odd thing to say, seeing as you seem to like your skoda?

Love it. But I wouldn't want a friend to be buying one at the moment until the price situation gets sorted. It looks like VW are going to be very aggressive on pricing for the new Golf model. Skoda Aus are either going to have to go niche and offer well specified vehicles that are not cheap but are good value (more standard features with no price changes) or they are going to have to have wholesale price reductions across the range to keep their position relative to VW. Either way I think waiting a couple of months will be worthwhile for potential Skoda owners.
My opinion I may not be correct but that is the way I read things at the moment.

[Tigger]

Love it. But I wouldn't want a friend to be buying one at the moment until the price situation gets sorted. It looks like VW are going to be very aggressive on pricing for the new Golf model. Skoda Aus are either going to have to go niche and offer well specified vehicles that are not cheap but are good value (more standard features with no price changes) or they are going to have to have wholesale price reductions across the range to keep their position relative to VW. Either way I think waiting a couple of months will be worthwhile for potential Skoda owners.
My opinion I may not be correct but that is the way I read things at the moment.

I see your point mate. I guess we will have to hope that the marketing guys at Skoda get it right, and dont do anything that will detract from the value of the product...both new and resale...

[K1W1]

I guess we will have to hope that the marketing guys at Skoda get it right, and dont do anything that will detract from the value of the product...both new and resale...

Too late for resale. The have f****d that royally. It is going to be very painful for many Skoda owners when they go to trade or sell. I don't have that problem cars are business tools and get depreciated but private buyers may not be very keen to buy Skoda again.

[Diesel_vert]

Whether you buy an Audi, Seat, Skoda or Volkswagen branded passenger car (or for that matter, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini & Porsche) the money ultimately goes to same parent company anyway.

At the end of the day, the company directors & shareholders couldn't care less which brand you buy - as long as it's a brand under the giant multinational umbrella that is Volkswagen AG.

[K1W1]

You forgot Ducati.

[Mysticality]

I'd recommend a Skoda... Simply because the after sales here locally is so amazing for Skoda.

Volvo and Peugeot, also - its under the same dealership!

[Dutch77]

The official list price of the 77TSI Golf is $21,990 so they'd need to be lopping $2k off that to hit the mark - so that would either need to be a loss leader or they're looking at shaving dollars off all models. It would seem they might need to as well at the top end given cars like the M-Benz A250 are priced sharply when compared to an optioned GTI etc.

Agreed this could hurt Skoda.

They'd be better off optioning up the cars and leaving price points alone as this has a lesser effect on resale value - which admittedly is shot to pieces in the Golf range as well right now.

As for business v private buyers, it does hurt a little less if the vehicle is business related, but until Juliar ups tax to 100% there is still a real cost to a corporate buyer of 70c in the dollar.

[BluChris]

A $20k Golf could hurt Skoda a lot - think Fabia, Roomster, Rapid as well as Octavia. $20k drops a bomb on all of them even if most are not direct competitors. Most people will think 'but I could have a Golf for those $/less $', and the Golf badge does have some cachet in the market where Skoda doesn't.

From a direct competitor perspective, the small car market is aligning with a $20k entry point and the $20k base models are generally better specced on the whole than a Golf 77TSI. So it wouldn't surprise me if they did move to this price point. The most direct alternative in the small car market is the Focus, which most journo's rate as equivalent to a Golf give or take. With the move to Thai assembly prices have dropped significantly and sales are growing after a fairly flat period. The base Focus can be had well under $20k drive away and the way better equipped mid spec Trend is under $22k drive away. Doubtful VW will want that to continue untouched.

[cbay]

maybe they're aiming to price the rapid at that point, since the new octy has 'grown'. time will tell how things will pan out, i think it's in Skoda's best interest to take care of their own and keep whatever brand loyalty they have, and 'evangelise' through current owners... there may not be much new attraction to the brand if the price isn't right over the course of the year.

[Dutch77]

They've invested a lot of time and most importantly money into establishing themselves, they just need to stick it out and hope moves like this don't kill the brand off as we'd be poorer for it.

I think GM/Opel are learning this the hard way, it's going to take more than a Euro badge and 5 minutes of advertising to convince people to hop on board.

[zei20t]

is it me or is there no advertising for the Octavia?

ive seen the fabia RS ad, and the yeti ad. nothing else besides some print ads in newspapers or magazines.

every time I turn on the tv I see an Opel ad. then I want to go check out the OPS astra

[Dutch77]

They hammered the Fabia RS on Adelaide TV when it came out, and yes I do recall the Yeti ads floating in and out of the schedule, but never an Octavia.. which is odd, wouldnt this be the #1 seller?

A lot of their advertising has been brand based prior to that, big tie in with cycling on SBS and Tour Down Under.

[cbay]

Add to the Golf's sharp pricing some capped servicing and Skoda could well be in trouble. :S