[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I would ask you to consider the following;

1. We pay 32 lacs for a Toyota Fortuner here in India. It costs around half that in South East Asian, Australian and other Markets. It doesn't get a lot of kit either. Yet, we worship it.
2. We pay 32 lacs for a Ssangyong Rexton in India. This is considered a piece of junk in the developed markets. Yet there are people here buying it if not extolling its virtues.
3. The Duster is considered widely to be the world's cheapest SUV and is priced at around 8-9 lacs everywhere else in the world and does come with lot of safety kit and other functional stuff over there. Over here we pay close to 15 lacs for the top end variant, which doesn't even come with the full Euro Spec, in terms of kit. Yet we have everyone singing its praises.
4. All the other so called "Prestige SUV's" are hopelessly overpriced here in India, causing serious people, to completely eschew them from the consideration set! Q3, Q5, X1, LR Freelander et al - all of these are ridiculously overpriced indeed in India!

And we are sitting right here and cribbing about 18.5 lacs for the Yeti, which actually is priced very much in line with what they charge for it in the UK, Europe, Australia and other developed markets. The best part is that they have not reduced any kit from the Indian Yeti when compared to the European one. It is just that the number of variants available have been reduced to a more manageable portfolio, given Indian conditions.

To me, this smacks of some serious bias, which people like us should not propagate, in all fairness!

This is my submission, in order to provide a little balance, because I am tired of this constant Yeti bashing by all and sundry.

What you mentioned about the Fortuner, Duster and the Prestige brands are indeed true. My disappointment is on Skoda’s slipshod attitude in marketing such a brilliant product. Now that they have got rid of the quirky face (which can bring in polarized opinion) and made the car look more neutral, they did have a chance to give a new lease of life to the Yeti.

What I did not like about the facelift:

• Except for some comfort features and a new steering wheel, the interiors are largely unchanged. They did not even bother to upgrade into the touchscreen interface of Octavia Elegance.
• The 4x2 variant at 19 lakhs (ex-Delhi) looks so redundant when compared to the Octavia. With a premium of around one lakh, I can get the Octavia Elegance DSG with all the comfort features, a modern interior., and also a powerful engine. All I miss here will the added GC.
• No DSG option – an AT option would have really worked in this segment and also will help buyers to see more value for the car (compared to the pre-facelift model).

In its current state, it will be an achievement if they can move around 50-75 units per month, which is a pity because the car truly deserves a better run, especially since it lies in a really untapped segment.

[SkyWalker]

Launched at a downright ridiculous price. They should consider themselves lucky if they ever get into double digits sales with this car. And that too, if somebody is willing to look beyond the Skoda branding.

That really makes me ask what's Skoda thinking? Why launch a car when you are 100% sure that its going to be a flop?

[Turbanator]

These figures are wrong , you can't compare OTR prices in some of highest tax states with Ex Showroom Lowest prices of another

1. We pay 32 lacs for a Toyota Fortuner here in India. It costs around half that in South East Asian, Australian and other Markets. It doesn't get a lot of kit either. Yet, we worship it.
2. We pay 32 lacs for a Ssangyong Rexton in India. This is considered a piece of junk in the developed markets. Yet there are people here buying it if not extolling its virtues.

And we are sitting right here and cribbing about 18.5 lacs for the Yeti

Against minimum Ex showrom price of Yeti of Rs 18,99 , Fortuner is priced @ Rs 22,25 ex Delhi . Please don't make unfair comparisons

To me, this smacks of some serious bias, which people like us should not propagate, in all fairness!

This is my submission, in order to provide a little balance, because I am tired of this constant Yeti bashing by all and sundry.

To me, this looks the other way

[drmohitg]

Horrible pricing. More so because of the ever increasing number of Urban SUVs that are being launched in our market at a much cheaper price point. The Yeti might be better than these other Urban SUVs in terms of safety features and built quality but that would not be sufficient to compensate for the ridiculous premium that Skoda is expecting out of the car. RIP!

[Hayek]

I don't think Skoda aims to sell 75 Yetis. Despite Superb sales being just 75 per month, the waiting period for the car is at least 3 months (based in my neighbour's experience). The plant which makes these cars is primarily an Audi plant, with Yetis, Octavias and Superbs being just fillers. On pricing, please remember that when this car was launched at Rs. 15 lakhs last time around, the Rupee was at Rs. 45 to the USD - we are now at Rs. 60. And I am willing to bet there will be several people who will buy the car. Comparing it with either the Duster or he Fortuner does not make any sense whatsoever, these products are in completely different segments. It's like saying a C Class is over priced since it costs more than a Nissan Sunny, even though the Sunny has more space. Agree, launching it with a DSG would have made more sense.

[zombiedriver]

Comparing it with the fortuner is plain unfair because every single person on this forum would agree that it is also ridiculously priced for what it offers, the only reason I see it selling more is because of the Peace of mind it offers in terms of ASS. This i can speak from personal experience because my in laws bought a fortuner instead of their original choice the X5. I know it doesn't make sense. I don't really know how the rexton drives but I can safely say in terms of space it does offer more than the Yeti and it comes with an A/T. When people here complain about the Yeti being overpriced I think it is because they think skoda had a good chance of increasing it's numbers if they had been slightly rational with the pricing and added a DSG not because it's not a good product to begin with

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I would ask you to consider the following;

1. We pay 32 lacs for a Toyota Fortuner here in India. It costs around half that in South East Asian, Australian and other Markets. It doesn't get a lot of kit either. Yet, we worship it.
2. We pay 32 lacs for a Ssangyong Rexton in India. This is considered a piece of junk in the developed markets. Yet there are people here buying it if not extolling its virtues.
3. The Duster is considered widely to be the world's cheapest SUV and is priced at around 8-9 lacs everywhere else in the world and does come with lot of safety kit and other functional stuff over there. Over here we pay close to 15 lacs for the top end variant, which doesn't even come with the full Euro Spec, in terms of kit. Yet we have everyone singing its praises.
4. All the other so called "Prestige SUV's" are hopelessly overpriced here in India, causing serious people, to completely eschew them from the consideration set! Q3, Q5, X1, LR Freelander et al - all of these are ridiculously overpriced indeed in India!

And we are sitting right here and cribbing about 18.5 lacs for the Yeti, which actually is priced very much in line with what they charge for it in the UK, Europe, Australia and other developed markets. The best part is that they have not reduced any kit from the Indian Yeti when compared to the European one. It is just that the number of variants available have been reduced to a more manageable portfolio, given Indian conditions.

To me, this smacks of some serious bias, which people like us should not propagate, in all fairness!

This is my submission, in order to provide a little balance, because I am tired of this constant Yeti bashing by all and sundry.

I am not bashing yeti. I am owner of yeti and love the vehicle. When i purchased this back in 2012, it costed me 17.25 lac on road price for elegance 4x4 (of course there were discounts), now it will come around 23 Lac on road (my guess) in delhi. will i purchase the new yeti now. I won't because the price increase doesn't justify (even if i get 2 lac discount, it will be 21lac on road) with extra features. No sunroof, No DSG. Yes they have cruise control and bi xenon headlamp . The prices would have been fine for L&K trim and not the elegance. Skoda may want to think itself as a premium brand, but it's image is not.

Btw, I already said duster is overpriced in india but it still sells like hot cake.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

I am not bashing yeti. I am owner of yeti and love the vehicle. When i purchased this back in 2012, it costed me 17.25 lac on road price for elegance 4x4 (of course there were discounts), now it will come around 23 Lac on road (my guess) in delhi. will i purchase the new yeti now. I won't because the price increase doesn't justify (even if i get 2 lac discount, it will be 21lac on road) with extra features. No sunroof, No DSG. Yes they have cruise control and bi xenon headlamp . The prices would have been fine for L&K trim and not the elegance. Skoda may want to think itself as a premium brand, but it's image is not.

Btw, I already said duster is overpriced in india but it still sells like hot cake.

On the contrary, as an existing owner of the Yeti I would buy the new one without a second thought had they offered a DSG. Yes a pano roof would have been nice too, but the DSG can make or break a deal. Do remember as Hayek mentioned the dollar prices have gone up a fair amount. Its not only Skodas Yeti that has become more expensive, but most higher end cars from the A class to the Q3 to the Q5 to all the 3 series, etc that we see. For example the 3 series, the ex showroom has gone up about 6l from the time it was launched in 2012.

Most people here are just looking at the size and commenting how overpriced it is, call me biased but only the owners will understand what an amazing piece of kit this is.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Hayek

I don't think Skoda aims to sell 75 Yetis. Despite Superb sales being just 75 per month, the waiting period for the car is at least 3 months (based in my neighbour's experience). The plant which makes these cars is primarily an Audi plant, with Yetis, Octavias and Superbs being just fillers. On pricing, please remember that when this car was launched at Rs. 15 lakhs last time around, the Rupee was at Rs. 45 to the USD - we are now at Rs. 60. And I am willing to bet there will be several people who will buy the car. Comparing it with either the Duster or he Fortuner does not make any sense whatsoever, these products are in completely different segments. It's like saying a C Class is over priced since it costs more than a Nissan Sunny, even though the Sunny has more space. Agree, launching it with a DSG would have made more sense.

Absolutely. Unlike VW, Skoda have not invested big money in setting up a huge production line in India. So they are not really bothered about selling the Yeti large numbers in India. Skoda's new Octavia is a huge success in Europe and they are expecting big demand from China in the coming months. Right now they are struggling to keep up with the demand and allocate kits for India. In such a situation there is no point in adopting aggressive pricing strategy for their products in India. For the time being Skoda is sitting pretty with their total global sales numbers surging YoY. We may crib about the high pricing, but Skoda HQ couldn't be any less bothered about how many Yetis are being sold in India. Atleast they have launched the car here, giving Yeti fans a chance to own their dream car.

[shankar.balan]

I really like this vehicle as an owner. It gives me much happiness every time I sit in it and drive it about.

I do not subscribe to the "size" philosophy. I think Quality is more important in that sense, than Quantity.

I still will maintain that our market and most critics are simply unable to appreciate the good things in this package. I will also say that the large majority of critics probably do not own this piece of kit and hence, are challenged to an extent, in terms of being able to appreciate its value.
The Yeti is quite fairly priced for the kit it offers. Yes it has become more expensive over the last 4 years since its launch, but then, haven't other cars also become more expensive? Toyota Fortuner, Altis, Innova and many other cars today command a significantly higher price tag than they did 4 years ago, so why single out the Yeti for price led criticism?

The trouble with us is that we want all the bells and whistles at a "cheap as chips" price to boot - so I guess those who subscribe to this school of thought do have other options like the Duster, XUV, Scorpio, Terrano, Fiat Avventura, Toyota Etios Cross, VW Polo Cross, Fabia Scout and EcoSport, all of which will deliver what they want at a price that is cheaper. So they are welcome to exercise those options!

The Yeti then, clearly, is meant only for a niche market and personally, I am happy to be a part of this niche.

Bottom-line, it is a great bit of kit, solid, safe, capable, comfortable, functional and in my considered opinion, very good value for the hard-earned money that I paid for it.

[zombiedriver]

I don't think anyone has bashed Yeti as a product, on the contrary everyone has only pointed out its merits and how skoda has sounded the death bell by pricing such an amazing product so badly. I for one think that the duster is overpriced for what it offers. In bangalore the OTR for the top end is close to 18 lakhs if I'm not wrong which is ridiculous. Having said that, the Yeti at 26 lakhs otr is just nonsense without even the option of a DSG and as someone pointed out not even an updated interior like the octavia

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

On the contrary, as an existing owner of the Yeti I would buy the new one without a second thought had they offered a DSG. Yes a pano roof would have been nice too, but the DSG can make or break a deal. Do remember as Hayek mentioned the dollar prices have gone up a fair amount. Its not only Skodas Yeti that has become more expensive, but most higher end cars from the A class to the Q3 to the Q5 to all the 3 series, etc that we see. For example the 3 series, the ex showroom has gone up about 6l from the time it was launched in 2012.

Most people here are just looking at the size and commenting how overpriced it is, call me biased but only the owners will understand what an amazing piece of kit this is.

I guess we both are saying the same thing. As you mentioned you would want a DSG at current pricing. And i am saying current pricing doesn't justify without important extra features like DSG and sunroof.

I love the vehicle and have done 75k in around 2 years and its still going strong, I would like to keep it as long as i can. It's a true allrounder.

[Screwdriva]

I own one of the 1st Yeti's delivered and the first Ambiente trim delivered in Bombay when the car was launched.

I'm still so glad we didn't get the Elegance and saved our $. We paid ~16.5 OTR for the 142 BHP 4X4 Variant with a few less electronic gizmos.

Skoda was quick to discontinue this variant and offer the lesser 108 bhp 4x2 variant for a lakh cheaper OTR in order to charge a significant premium for AWD + more power. Combined this with no reliability issues thanks to fewer electronics, the Ambiente is the hidden gem in the used Yeti market (if you can find one)

Outside of a tire puncture on the Original Goodyear shitty rubber (since replaced by Michelin Primacy LCs), the Yeti has been our best, most trouble free vehicle owned to date. Routinely returns 11kmpl + in Bombay traffic and over 16 kmpl on the highway.

I don't like the refreshed versions looks or the pricing. IMO, Skoda have sealed the cars fate in India by not offering a small turbo petrol or an auto transmission.

[razor4077]

On another note, the dealers would most probably be looking to get rid of some old outgoing variant stocks. May be some good deals up for grabs and since the "upgrade" isn't really a huge upgrade, if one can live with an "old" model tag it might be a sweet deal. I wouldn't mind.. maybe I should give the dealer a call

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The trouble with us is that we want all the bells and whistles at a "cheap as chips" price to boot - so I guess those who subscribe to this school of thought do have other options like the Duster, XUV, Scorpio, Terrano, Fiat Avventura, Toyota Etios Cross, VW Polo Cross, Fabia Scout and EcoSport, all of which will deliver what they want at a price that is cheaper. So they are welcome to exercise those options!

The Yeti then, clearly, is meant only for a niche market and personally, I am happy to be a part of this niche.

Bottom-line, it is a great bit of kit, solid, safe, capable, comfortable, functional and in my considered opinion, very good value for the hard-earned money that I paid for it.

Very well summed up Shankar Balan - there are plenty of options for those who do not find this VFM.

The Yeti is not VFM at the point of purchase. However, it trounces VFM the moment you start driving around in it.

I'm glad I own one, and would buy this vehicle again.