Skoda brand image

[Greggles4]

Had a couple of Skoda's as Europcar hire cars over the last couple fo months. Had one of the rental staff ask me to upgrade to an A4. He looked at mestrangely when I said I only rented through Europcar to get the Octavia. My wife would really love one and they drive so well. Much better than the replacement Europcar for the Skoda, Holden Cruze.
It really is a similar story to SEAT, now onto my fourth Cordy and it's happily the weekend car. Had some one the other day ask me what it was and still ask if they could buy one after they saw the amount of boot space. My friend told me it couldn't hold as much as his Camry, that only meant game on and I won. He didn't realise it was 15 years old, he thought it was no more than 5 years old.
I wish VW would bring SEAT back as well to compliment Skoda.

[Brycem]

Not entirely true. The other day I told one of my colleague from UK that I got a Skoda, she gave me the weirdest look, and couldn't stop laughing. I was surprised as I thought someone from UK would know it better. She told me "yes, I know they are good cars now, but I just can't help but think of all those jokes on Skoda!"



Yeah, anybody knows about cars will know Skodas are good cars. All expert opinions here in OZ aren't that much different from that of UK. But my concern is more on average general publics, what they think of Skoda.



That's the problem. UK being in Europe, these entry level Euro machines (Skoda, Citroen, Renault, Fiat..etc) is probably seen as budget brands anyway. But in OZ, as they are from Europe, there is a "prestige" feelings to it, therefore it's justified to give a premium on its pricing. I heard in Europe, Asian cars are not commonly seen and they are not even considered competitive in the market. Not like in OZ, even Subaru can carry a "prestige" to it, and Hyundai can even
compete in the market!

No the budget brands are the Koreans (Chinese not there yet as uk not in their pockets) Toyota Honda nissan and mazda sell relatively well in the uk but are not held in any great esteem. Certainly not revered for reliability as here but seen as functional and dull.

The point is that as pricing currently stands of all the euro players vw is the only one who doesn't charge a premium but only for vws. Skodas attract a premium and Audis a large premium. When the rs is 2.5 years old it is being replaced by a passat wagon.

[gldgti]

Had a couple of Skoda's as Europcar hire cars over the last couple fo months. Had one of the rental staff ask me to upgrade to an A4. He looked at mestrangely when I said I only rented through Europcar to get the Octavia. My wife would really love one and they drive so well. Much better than the replacement Europcar for the Skoda, Holden Cruze.
It really is a similar story to SEAT, now onto my fourth Cordy and it's happily the weekend car. Had some one the other day ask me what it was and still ask if they could buy one after they saw the amount of boot space. My friend told me it couldn't hold as much as his Camry, that only meant game on and I won. He didn't realise it was 15 years old, he thought it was no more than 5 years old.
I wish VW would bring SEAT back as well to compliment Skoda.

agree agree and WIN!

The codoba really does have an enormous boot, but man the toledo is even better. I reckon the skoda's have the same kind of design intent, the octy is so roomy inside for such moderately sized car on the outside.

[VAG newbie]

No the budget brands are the Koreans (Chinese not there yet as uk not in their pockets) Toyota Honda nissan and mazda sell relatively well in the uk but are not held in any great esteem. Certainly not revered for reliability as here but seen as functional and dull.

The point is that as pricing currently stands of all the euro players vw is the only one who doesn't charge a premium but only for vws. Skodas attract a premium and Audis a large premium. When the rs is 2.5 years old it is being replaced by a passat wagon.

When compare to VW, I suppose another factor for Skoda is more metal for your money, not just equipment. Yes, we all know Fabia = Polo, Octavia = Golf, Superb = Passat and Yeti = Tiguan. But disregard engine, mechanics and platform, simply compare the size, Octavia is more midsize like Passat and A4, Superb is limo size like A6 and phaeton. I haven't seen Fabia in real but I heard it's size is closer to Golf than Polo.

In OZ, size does matter, consider Falcodore has been the top selling car for years, although it's declining, it's because of the rising fuel cost and people have moved to SUVs, it still shows size does matter! So Passat buyers who just need a midsize family car, they might find Octavia way more affordable, and A6 buyers may opt for Superb (ie, me:p) and save $40-50,000!!

I'm not saying it's OK for VW to charge a premium for Skoda, in fact, I fully agree it's a bit expensive for a brand that is still establishing it's name. But I guess that's the reason VW feels its ok to charge a premium. Don't worry, the market will speak itself and Skoda will adjust it's price so consumers will accept. Eg. When Superb first came out, the price was definitely way too optimistic! ($48990 for 125TDI elegance, without leather and GPS! No thanks!)

Also I don't think Skoda Aus is just comparing with VW but all other brands. All car makers here charge a premium anyway! A Thai Honda Accord V6L for $49990!! It's not even as well equipt as the Superb! An OZ made Aurion for the same money? What about Hyundai? It's price is up there with Japanese now and many people do not consider it as a budget brand anymore because of the price premium! This makes both Skoda and VW extremely good value for money.