[Latheesh]

Hope it is not another German engineered Jalebi!

https://youtu.be/v0z5qTbtPI4?feature=shared

[lightfootdriver]

Originally Posted by dsr001

This will be a Polo/Fabia replacement for many

Exactly my thought. And Polo GT is in very high demand in Bangalore market atleast. Just a few days back, a guy genuinely posted ad for 17.99L for his red hot Polo GT TSI on MyGate. I was surprised, pinged him just to confirm that it's not a typo. He says his friend sold their Polo for 13.5L so he's trying his luck. I doubt anyone would have bought it, but just the craze behind Polo GT is amazing.

If Skoda is able to offer a decent alternative, could it be the Polo GT alternative many of us want? :fingers crossed:

[Reinhard]

What I'm also curious about - is how VW/Skoda will position this small car now.

If they price it competitive enough with the incumbent kings/queens of the segment - probably they'll need to cut back on the features, and that will take the car already on backfoot.

If they pack all the features and still keep the price significantly lower than the Kushaq/Taigun - the only victims of these new cars will be the Kushaq/Taigun - and nobody else. And I don't want to be an existing Kushaq/Taigun customer then, looking at this pricing revisit unfold. Price it too high - and anyway it will be dead on arrival. And then we'd wonder why they invested so much in a product that was easily identifiable as a slow mover on the sales charts. Its going to be a tricky decision either way. Interesting to see which way VW/Skoda goes now.

Originally Posted by lightfootdriver

Exactly my thought. And Polo GT is in very high demand in Bangalore market atleast. Just a few days back, a guy genuinely posted ad for 17.99L for his red hot Polo GT TSI on MyGate.

Are you sure it was a GT and not a GTI? I don't think anyone would actually expect anything more than 10L even for an unused stock GT TSI. If he really was expecting this much for a GT TSI and gets it - hats off.

[Newtown]

Brands are adapting to stay relevant. Absolutely the right thing to do by taking the matter head on.

Category 1 - For those that want original German DNA vehicles, the CBU's will still be available. Just be ready with the moolah. Everything that comes to the Indian shores are in the higher trims. Also, and add the import duty.

Category 2- Those who want a taste of what the Germans manufacturers can conjure up specific to their geography. They may not have the means OR want to pay top dollar for the CBUs. These are people who are already accustomed or need to get accustomed to the fact that they will not get everything that sounds and feels like other German cars.

When I look at the Taigun, Kushaq, Virtus, Slavia - All excellent cars in their own right. Drive well, are safe and have features that are relevant as of today.

[sunikkat]

Not a bad proposition. A person looking for an European option in hatchback / compact segment within 12 to 15 lakhs range there aren’t many options with the exit of Polo. Being a VAG I am sure it would be fun to drive and would be a safe car too.
I would have definitely bought it as a beater city car, instead of i20 if it was available then.

[GeeTee TSI]

I really wish they keep up the good work with the drivetrains as with the 2.0 cars, and in the same breath I also hope that they don't go more downmarket with the interior build and materials

[dsr001]

I think what VAG might do is, start offering the current Kushaq/Taigun only in 1.5 TSI variants.

New cars may be offered with 1.0 TSI and 1.0 NA.

Basically following TATA playbook on differentiating Nexon vs Punch. Both are sub 4m but still there's sufficient differentiation.

[volkman10]

Skoda shortlists 15 names for its Compact SUV.

received a tremendous response. From over 100,000 entries, below are the top 15 user-suggested names for voting

[volkman10]

Skoda's Compact SUV spy pic:

[ashutoshb]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda shortlists 15 names for its Compact SUV.



Attachment 2587707

Kanishq was by me I hope no one suggested it earlier.

[volkman10]

New spy shots, shows its face for the first time.

- Skoda's typical grill along with a split headlight design we have seen with Kushaq.

- Headlights are twin-pod LEDs, probably reflectors, and we have turn indicators/LED DRLs on top. Neatly sculpted lower bumper, clamshell bonnet, large ORVMs with turn indicators, and a large honey-comb pattern lower grill.

- A strong shoulder line along with a thick C-pillar.

-C-shaped LED signature is striking, but indicators and reverse lights seem to be halogens.( trim specific?)

- Vehicle is donning steel wheels with covers shod with 205-section tyres and lacks rear defogger along with rear washer and wiper.

- No sunroof spotted yet.

- On the inside, can see a fully digital TFT instrument cluster along with a larger infotainment screen. So, it is safe to say that this could be a mid-spec trim and not the top-end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyiq...el=TheFatBiker

[Zippy_wheels]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

What I'm also curious about - is how VW/Skoda will position this small car now.

If they price it competitive enough with the incumbent kings/queens of the segment - probably they'll need to cut back on the features, and that will take the car already on backfoot.

If they pack all the features and still keep the price significantly lower than the Kushaq/Taigun - the only victims of these new cars will be the Kushaq/Taigun - and nobody else. And I don't want to be an existing Kushaq/Taigun customer then, looking at this pricing revisit unfold. Price it too high - and anyway it will be dead on arrival. And then we'd wonder why they invested so much in a product that was easily identifiable as a slow mover on the sales charts. Its going to be a tricky decision either way. Interesting to see which way VW/Skoda goes now.

I am afraid they will be able to keep most of the features even with a significant drop in price. If you look at the invoice for your car you will see you paid more than 5 lakhs for gst+cess because it is > 4 metre.
So, it seems, gst+cess on >4 metre cars is 51-55%. For sub 4 metres it will come to around 30% - so there is the saving of 2 lakhs without touching anything. Plus the saving with the reduced car size - lesser metals and other associated components, smaller tyres maybe, smaller AC etc. I believe the road tax and stamp duty will also be lesser so that will bring the on road price down further. They can also cut down their margins since they would want to make it a mass market car. So, a back of the paper calculation tells me, they can cut it down by ~4 lakhs without compromising on the features. That makes it 14-15 lakhs OTR which is pretty competitive when compared to nexon, sonet etc.

[TorqueAddict007]

Nexon and Sonet are pretty entrenched players with their distinct USPs and somebody wanting to buy them, has a very specific condition that they want. I'm afraid all this sub 4m crossover is going to do is eat away a huge chunk of the Kushaq's 1.0 TSI sales.

The Kushaq is anyway such a small car compared to its competitors, and just doesn't have the space to seat five people super comfortably. Why pay 4-5 lakhs more for a bit more space when you can get the same engine, same features, same gearbox as a Kushaq 1.0 TSI.

Instead of this, Skoda should have found a way to compete in the 20-30 lakh segment with a product that rivals the likes of the XUV700 and the Harrier Twins. Could have easily plonked the 2.0 TSI into it, they could even just heavily localise and try to build the Kodiaq locally, instead of it being a CKD, I'm pretty sure if they can manage to offer the Kodiaq for less than 35 lakhs by heavily localising it, a great deal of people will buy it. They should honestly consider doing that with the next gen Kodiaq.

Another simple way to get back a lot of customers would be to bring back the 1.5 and 2.0 TDIs. Sure the homologation may be expensive but look at the sales of the Scorpion N, XUV700, the Harrier Twins and even the Creta and Seltos. They show that diesel still is very much an option for big SUVs. But no, with all the available options, they decided to instead step into the most cutthroat segment of Indian cars.

[Mitadru]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda shortlists 15 names for its Compact SUV.



Attachment 2587707

Where can we vote for the names mentioned above ? Is it there on the Skoda India website ?

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Mitadru

Where can we vote for the names mentioned above ? Is it there on the Skoda India website ?

You can vote in Skoda's website.