[any23]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Waiting for the reviews here. But when I look at the comments on pricing, all I can wonder is what are people smoking.

I feel people want Skoda as a brand to succeed in India and not follow Ford route to exit Indian market making customers devoid of good to drive cars as options.

Considering present market scenario, it becomes important for any brand to bring fresh models with competitive or even shock pricing to attract customers attention towards the product which ultimately will lead to more footfall in showrooms.

Everyone thought Kushaq as a product will do great for Skoda but it went the other way around considering overall average product quality and specially a poor pricing strategy. And I feel Kushaq as a product is just doing average business for Skoda.

Pricing Slavia aggressively may do wonders for Skoda, when an average customer shops for a car they do a lot of comparison and look for maximum value for money, brand perception(high maintenance, poor part availability, poor dealer network etc) is still something Skoda is struggling with which only can be reversed if people buy and experience their products and for that aggressive pricing will come into picture.

[amit1agrawal]

I am seriously considering Slavia for my next purchase which I had deferred due to Covid. The other car on my shortlist is City. I checkout Slavia yesterday at my nearest dealership It's stunning to look at, has a typical European feel to it with a nice looking dashboard. However, I think it doesn't justify any premium over City, which is already overpriced. If the leaked prices come out to be the actual one, I will give it a miss & book City. The variant I am interested in is the 1.0 TSI Style Manual and that will cost 18+L on-road in Bangalore which is nearly a lakh more than City 1.5 ZX manual. I will book City & save 1L or spend 3-4 more and jump to the next segment (Harrier/XUV700).

[axe_deo]

Originally Posted by Annibaddh

..NEVER, until recently when they wiped out their diesels. What an asininely move! Efficient, powerful, brilliant and most importantly known devils, they were bread and butter...

Not only they have stopped making diesel cars. They have started pricing their petrol cars at a price higher than the competition's diesel cars. They are saving the cost of the diesel BS6 hardware and making greater profit per car. The VAG group has been very shrewd in this regard.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by axe_deo

Not only they have stopped making diesel cars. They have started pricing their petrol cars at a price higher than the competition's diesel cars. They are saving the cost of the diesel BS6 hardware and making greater profit per car. The VAG group has been very shrewd in this regard.

Pertol cars being cheaper holds good only for NA Petrol vs. Turbo Diesel comparison. I believe, turbo petrol motors are equally expensive as turbo diesel.

If Creta can price turbo petrol higher than their own turbo diesel, I dont see anything wrong in VAG pricing their turbo petrol higher than competition diesels.

[shastryBLR]

I was waiting for variant breakdown ever since the full media reveal. Skoda chose to limit the 1.5 manual to style variant.Paying k'taka road tax will take this car over 21 lakhs on road for the 1.5 manual with the required accessories( and warranties? ).

Feels bad to see the expected pricing.

Now I either stretch my budget, or settle for a 3cyl hatch back. A true head v/s heart scenario.

Skoda if you can- make a Slavia rider/ driver

- < 14 lakh 1.5 cyl turbo petrol manual.
- 16/17" wheels
- 3 spoke steering + tilt and steering adjustment - Rear camera, necessary safety sensors, all discs


I'm happy to have

- Manual ac ( actually this one has physical knobs- much better )
- No rear power windows
- Fabric seats
- 7 inch infotainment / basic infotainment
- No sun roof

basically cut whatever you have to but make the pricing < 14lakhs on road, but give a great driver's kit.

[axe_deo]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

...I believe, turbo petrol motors are equally expensive as turbo diesel....

I dont think so with the BS6, diesels have gotten much more costlier with more of hardware( eg NOx trap, DPF, DEF tank, etc. ) required for meeting BS6 standards. Experts can further elaborate on this.

[pqr]

Here is variant wise comparison of feature advantage, based on walk around videos available on YouTube.



Variant by variant - Honda City seems to be quite well equipped over Skoda Slavia. Besides ventilated front seats, subwoofer and wireless charger on top end variant, Skoda doesn’t have much feature advantage over Honda City. Also, current generation Honda City is now two years old in the Indian market, and Honda must be having war chest to offer discounts, in order to maintain competitive on-road pricing. Skoda has to be very careful with the launch pricing strategy.

[skarthiksr]

Originally Posted by bwildrd#1

Not sure if it's mentioned before in this thread. Slavia's front passenger seat has height adjustable mechanism

That was actually a nice touch which even Kushaq doesn't get. Here is how it is.

[audioholic]

Paid a brief visit to a Skoda showroom to check out the Slavia and since they were closing soon I didn't get much time to observe the details. However while me and my parents were comparing the Slavia and Kushaq, the salesperson mentioned that the Kushaq has better rear legroom. I was of the thought that its the opposite. Of course the rear seat of the Kushaq is placed higher but I felt that the Slavia had the length advantage.

Overall I was impressed with the car as well as my parents. It is not a loaded package but considering the sad state of the C segment, this car must at least impress with things like performance, handling while the rest of the aspects seem neutral. If I really look at alternatives in the same price range, the Honda City has a boring power train and not my favourite when it comes to stance. The Verna offers good kit but space is a downer and it should have had the 1.4TGDI as the top of the line variant and not the 1.0. In the middle of these two, the Slavia doesn't seem like a huge compromise in any way. The pricing of the 1.5 DSG would be at a huge premium, but I think that's for those who really want the added performance. For the rest, the 1.0 TSI would still smoke down the Honda city and with better dynamics.

Need to decide between Kushaq / Slavia and also if I should settle for the 1.0 AT or the 1.5DSG. Tough days ahead

[bwildrd#1]

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

That was actually a nice touch which even Kushaq doesn't get. Here is how it is.

Yep. I didn't take a picture hence couldn't post one. While this is a nice addition I also feel with feature like this Skoda is trying to place Slavia between City and Elantra. Like the way they did with new Octavia - pricing it between previous gen Octavia and current Superb.

[AutoConsultant]

Originally Posted by pqr

Here is variant wise comparison of feature advantage, based on walk around videos available on YouTube.

What a brilliant comparison prior to the launch, great work!

I really liked Slavia's first looks and honestly felt it could be a great competitor to the City. However, right now I can't find any reason to prefer it over the City. Lower variants cannot be lacking these many features unless you price it very low, Kushaq is also a similar story.

Even if we look at the top end variants, there are no stand out features for which I can think of giving a premium.

At this point there's nothing to suggest that it can compete with City and might remain a relatively lower volume player (~2k per month).

These guys are making the City look like a VFM option (tbh the lower variants are genuinely VFM) and might help Honda in the long run to survive in India. Thanks Skoda

[SidR]

From the comparison above, it seems Slavia Ambition is more in line with Honda City V variant than VX. Honda City V CVT is priced at 12.63l ex showroom. In that context, Slavia Ambition Automatic should not be priced over 13 lac ex showroom. City looks extreme VFM now.

[McLaren Rulez]

Any news on which variants get how many airbags?

[bwildrd#1]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Any news on which variants get how many airbags?

Active/Ambition gets two and Style gets six.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by pqr

Variant by variant - Honda City seems to be quite well equipped over Skoda Slavia. Besides ventilated front seats, subwoofer and wireless charger on top end variant, Skoda doesn’t have much feature advantage over Honda City. Also, current generation Honda City is now two years old in the Indian market, and Honda must be having war chest to offer discounts, in order to maintain competitive on-road pricing. Skoda has to be very careful with the launch pricing strategy.

Excellent Comparo. A few things to add to the the Skoda base variant cell:

• TPMS
• ESC
• Multi-collision braking
• Traction Control
• EDS/XDS/XDS+
• Rough-road package
• 3 headrests at rear
• More modern engine with turbocharging (fuel efficiency, better mid-range torque etc.)
• Hill Start

However, I agree that the base Active package is a lot poorer than that of the City V. Which is the reason I hope Skoda will price it realistically at a little less than 10 lakhs, which will also help those in many states with a high road tax slab beyond 10 lakhs.