[TusharK]

Skoda has reached a new production milestone as the 1,00,000th Rapid sedan rolled out of the company's Chakan plant. The 1,00,000th car was a Rapid Monte Carlo.



The Skoda Rapid was launched in India in 2011. The carmaker introduced an updated model in 2016. The Rapid Monte Carlo gets cosmetic add-ons like a black grille, roof, spoiler and ORVMs. It has projector headlights with integrated LED daytime running lights and comes fitted with 16-inch alloy wheels.



On the inside, the car gets black leatherette upholstery, 3-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel, steel pedals and scuff plates. It has a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, rain sensing wipers, cruise control and a rear view camera.

The Rapid Monte Carlo is available with two engine options including a 1.6-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine that produces 103 BHP and 153 Nm of torque and a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel unit that puts out 109 BHP / 250 Nm. A 5-speed manual transmission comes standard with both engines. While the petrol engine gets a 6-speed automatic gearbox, the diesel comes with a 7-speed DSG option.

Link to Team-BHP News

[aveoman19]

Congratulations to Škoda India for this massive achievement. Having said that, I do believe that It's about time both Škoda and Volkswagen gave us an all new car. Not this old bottle.

We need a car with at least 6 airbags and fresh looking design inside out. 2 years before I came to Europe, when the car was launched in 2011, I took a test drive of the first iteration of the Škoda rapid. I was quite happy with the way the car felt but thought even back then that the interiors looked bland. Now, in 2019, when I look at what India has become, I am awestruck and excited to see the rapid (no pun intended) progress of our country. All I wish is to not get into a Rapid when I come back home next year as it will convince me that I'm still in 2011!

The segment king, Honda City went through a complete generation from 2011-2014 and is now at the very end of its current generation! Come on VW India! Stop milking us!

[motorworks]

As someone who owned a Rapid 1.6 Diesel for 6 years, I can safely state that it is still one of the better cars in its segment, even after 7-8 years of launch. The build quality, braking, is unmatched by cars such as City and the Ciaz.

Of course, we all know the drawbacks to a Skoda, but as a product, the Rapid is still one of the best around.

[nma83]

Originally Posted by motorworks

As someone who owned a Rapid 1.6 Diesel for 6 years, I can safely state that it is still one of the better cars in its segment, even after 7-8 years of launch. The build quality, braking, is unmatched by cars such as City and the Ciaz.

Of course, we all know the drawbacks to a Skoda, but as a product, the Rapid is still one of the best around.

Second that, having been through the exact same experience. No matter what gizmos crop up in the competition, the sheer quality of Rapid/Vento is unmatched.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by nma83

Second that, having been through the exact same experience. No matter what gizmos crop up in the competition, the sheer quality of Rapid/Vento is unmatched.

But I heard the latest models are suffering from quality issues especially the Gabriel branded suspensions. The build quality, I agree is among the best, but they should introduce newer generations of Rapid/Vento rather than cropping up new special editions. I am an admirer of the new Rapid, but I am now bored of the Vento.

[Vid6639]

Sure took them a while to reach 1 lakh. 8 years and that too pretty much the same car since launch.

Most manufacturers would have moved onto the second gen iteration.

That said Skoda has kept the Rapid fresh and relevant vs the Vento which seems to have taken a back seat.

The Rapid black edition, Monte Carlo and some others in between have kept the Rapid looking like the sporty more fun variant vs the Vento.

Skoda atleast changed interior colours and got some variants. VW have been keeping the same brown and beige in the Vento.

What Skoda truly missed out on was the TSI engine. Hope with the new BS6 1.0TSI this trend changes and both VW and Skoda get the same motor.

[kubectl]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

That said Skoda has kept the Rapid fresh and relevant vs the Vento which seems to have taken a back seat.

The Rapid black edition, Monte Carlo and some others in between have kept the Rapid looking like the sporty more fun variant vs the Vento.

Skoda atleast changed interior colours and got some variants. VW have been keeping the same brown and beige in the Vento.

Umm, Vento has now done away with the brown plastics. It comes with the same exact interiors as the Rapid now - black and beige.

In fact I think that both, VW and Skoda follow the same design rules for Vento and Rapid i.e. make them look like the younger siblings of the higher-ups.
Rapid follows Octavia's exterior which is sporty and more "out there", while Vento follows Passat's which is a classic sleeper and understated design.

Where I think that looks are deceiving is the steering wheel and engine.
Rapid being marketed as the "sporty" sedan gets a normal, round and less functional steering wheel while Vento being marketed as the "corporate" sedan gets the flat-bottomed steering wheel with all the controls.
Add to it the TSI+DSG combo and it's the Vento which is the fun and sporty sleeper and not the Rapid.

Vento is as updated as Rapid in 2019, if not more. In fact, both of these cars put the competition to shame -
- HLA, TCS, ESP unlike City
- decent rear passenger space unlike Verna
- amazing build quality unlike Ciaz
- best automatic transmission experience unlike Yaris

But unfortunately, neither of the cars are marketed aggressively enough to highlight their strong points and hence the market perception never improves. As another BHPian has already posted on this thread, from a product point of view, both of these cars are exceptional. Some effort in after sales and customer satisfaction, and they still got a chance.

[GTO]

Don't know what Skoda is celebrating! Direct competitors like the Ciaz + City + Verna do 1 lakh sales in 2 - 3 years. It's taken Skoda THRICE as much time to reach the 1 lakh milestone.

That said, it's still a nice sedan. That's a testament to the Polo platform and the amazing engines + gearboxes it comes with. Another achievement is that it has been consistently outselling its sibling, the VW Vento.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by kubectl

Umm, Vento has now done away with the brown plastics. It comes with the same exact interiors as the Rapid now - black and beige.

Just found this youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH6VNpp3YUY

It still shows greyish brown and beige and not black.

Also I don't see any news of it or on their website. When were the interior colours updated on Vento?

In comparison the Rapid is ALL black:

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by kubectl

Umm, Vento has now done away with the brown plastics. It comes with the same exact interiors as the Rapid now - black and beige.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

In comparison the Rapid is ALL black:

Does Vento have any trim in all black interiors? I think the all black interiors look way better than black + beige interiors?

[Karthik Chandra]

Originally Posted by kubectl

Vento is as updated as Rapid in 2019, if not more. In fact, both of these cars put the competition to shame -
- HLA, TCS, ESP unlike City
- decent rear passenger space unlike Verna
- amazing build quality unlike Ciaz
- best automatic transmission experience unlike Yaris

It takes a lot more to 'shame' the competition

Build quality is closely matched by Verna
'Fun to drive' is matched by City iVtec and very closely matched by Verna CRDi
Comprehensive safety is exceeded by Yaris with 7 airbags, TPMS & rear discs
Rear seat space and comfort is more in Ciaz & City
VFM quotient for Ciaz

So there is a compromise in one way or the other in all cars but the ownership experience has been way better for competition.

Originally Posted by kubectl

But unfortunately, neither of the cars are marketed aggressively enough to highlight their strong points and hence the market perception never improves.

Exorbitant service/spare costs when compared to competition + the downtime is huge (a friend suffered a lot). The same old car since 2010 during which time the city has had a newgen launched which itself is due for replacement & Verna has had a generation change.

Except for the bumpers, fenders & headlamps everything else is shared between Vento & Rapid. VAG has been flogging the same models for years with just lame special editions. VAG could have extended the cost benefits to the customer.

There are reasons these cars don't sell in our market, so lets not glorify these cars. Except for being FTD (for which there are others cars too) there is nothing more these cars offer.

Manufacturers need to show commitment towards a market for the market to respond better.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

It takes a lot more to 'shame' the competition
Build quality is closely matched by Verna
'Fun to drive' is matched by City iVtec and very very closely matched by Verna CRDi
Comprehensive safety is exceeded by Yaris with 7 airbags, TPMS & rear discs
Rear seat space and comfort is more in Ciaz & City
VFM quotient for Ciaz

And all these packages come together in a VW Vento. Why buy 5 different cars, when one has it all?

After owning a VW Vento 1.6 Diesel for 6 years and 90000kms later, my next car will still be a VW Vento in the present market, no competititor can match the quality of the car, not a single squeak and still runs like a new car. I do plan to use my car for another 4 to 5 years.
Maintenance is fine, costs about 12000rs per year for annual service and other repairs costs about 1.5 times that of a Maruti, which I consider alright.
There are things like the Steering Rack, which costed around Rs.12000 last month but the Maruti SX4 steering rack costed Rs.15000 in 2010! So some parts are infact cheaper!

[SideView]

Even with all the horror stories that we keep hearing about Skoda ASC, the rapid has managed to sell good numbers.

So hats off Skoda, they are doing something right. With the maintenance packages, I think they are going in the right direction.

[kubectl]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Also I don't see any news of it or on their website. When were the interior colours updated on Vento?

If I remember correctly, they were updated some time in February or March. Other additions are a glovebox light and two 12V charging sockets, one at the front and another for rear passengers.

You're correct, this information is not available on their website (might in the brochure somewhere) and that's a part of the problem - poor marketing and having low confidence in their own products.

My source is, well, myself! I picked up a Vento TSI Highline Plus earlier this month. Here is a picture of the black + beige interiors instead of brown + beige in earlier models. Sorry for the horrible picture, that's the only one that I found in my phone.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

In comparison the Rapid is ALL black:

Originally Posted by shipnil

Does Vento have any trim in all black interiors? I think the all black interiors look way better than black + beige interiors?

So, there are 2 things -

1. Neither top variants i.e. Rapid Style or Vento Highline Plus come with all black interiors because apparently, they have side airbags available only in the beige colored seats. So you'll get top variants in black + beige interiors only.

2. Rapid's Monte Carlo and Vento's special editions (Cup edition, Black and White edition, Connect edition) come with all black interiors. They're based on Rapid's ONYX and Vento's Highline variants (which are also available in all black interiors, though I'm not 100% sure)

Check out the interiors in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q16U4-yrRSs

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

It takes a lot more to 'shame' the competition

It might have come across as shaming, but that was not my intention. I'm only trying to highlight that it's disappointing and incorrect when Vento and Rapid are dismissed as "old platforms with no modern features" while in reality, they are more equipped than the competition in the areas that really matter - safety, driving dynamics and engine + gearbox options.

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

VAG could have extended the cost benefits to the customer.

They are extending the cost benefits to the consumer. The interest rate being offered by Volkswagen Finance is 6.99%.
As for me, I got a discount of Rs. 1,00,000 on ex-showroom price for my Vento TSI Highline Plus earlier this month.

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

There are reasons these cars don't sell in our market, so lets not glorify these cars. Except for being FTD (for which there are others cars too) there is nothing more these cars offer.

Manufacturers need to show commitment towards a market for the market to respond better.

I agree that VAG should show more commitment to the Indian market (which they are with the newer MQB-A0-IN cars from next year), but I strongly disagree on not glorifying these cars.

Both, Rapid and Vento are textbook examples of function over form -
- German engineering and safety is unparalleled - so much so that a decade old platforms are stronger than the newer cars from the competition
- Infotainment system is right up there with the best - Read https://www.carwale.com/volkswagen-c...o-first-place/
- Engine and gearbox options - well enough has been said about these anyway

In a sunroof driven market, there's all the more reason to glorify these Germans!

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

And all these packages come together in a VW Vento. Why buy 5 different cars, when one has it all?

After owning a VW Vento 1.6 Diesel for 6 years and 90000kms later, my next car will still be a VW Vento in the present market, no competititor can match the quality of the car, not a single squeak and still runs like a new car.

I could not agree more. After closely following the market for more than 6 months, I settled with the Vento. Nothing else came anywhere close. Every test drive of any other car made the difference more and more apparent and I took the plunge without any second thoughts on my mind.

[batman]

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

After owning a VW Vento 1.6 Diesel for 6 years and 90000kms later, my next car will still be a VW Vento in the present market, no competititor can match the quality of the car, not a single squeak and still runs like a new car. I do plan to use my car for another 4 to 5 years.
Maintenance is fine, costs about 12000rs per year for annual service and other repairs costs about 1.5 times that of a Maruti, which I consider alright.
There are things like the Steering Rack, which costed around Rs.12000 last month but the Maruti SX4 steering rack costed Rs.15000 in 2010! So some parts are infact cheaper!

True! With an experience of owning a Rapid 1.6 TDI for about 5 years and having owned a Swift for 8 years before that, I can confidently say that my yearly expense towards normal service is about the same Rs.12000 per year (1 visit) which is certainly about 30% lower than what I had spent for the Swift per year (3-4 visits). Considering cost of the parts, only time I have felt it was higher was when I had to replace a damaged headlight assembly (About Rs 11000, if I remember correctly). Other than that, it was comparable and never felt the cost of the parts being exorbitant.

The car is a still workhorse, without any squeaks or niggles. Recently I had to visit the ASC as the 'coil light' in the dash board was glowing and the car was not having the usual pickup and the reason was attributed to rat bites and was charged around Rs. 1200 to rectify the same. I don't think any Automobile Manufacturer will be charging lower than this. Only plus point I can say about Maruti is, we can go to their ASC without any appointment to rectify such issues above, if we go early.

I hope the Brand Perception changes for the better, in the years to come.