Re: Skoda Yeti LWB for China! From early this week an European brand of car is conducting a promotional event in our apartment complex. I casually parked myself at the booth at various times of the day to check out the response as I thought the potential buyers here in these 700 odd apartments was a microcosm of the larger Indian auto market place.
All of the inquiries I witnessed had one common grouse...the cars these Germans offered did not provide the 'features' the Koreans did...
Not even a single soul came close to complaining about the missing EBD or the need for a TCS. Even the fact that the sheet metal of these European cars being thicker was a real problem for many as that would compromise on the mileage obtained. So would the wider tires that thee Germans use. We are still a market who lay larger emphasis on steering mounted controls, rain sensing wipers, and auto head lamps and are willing to trade-off on safety necessities like EBD, TCS, ride and handling.
"Fetish for Frills" is possibly a trait we deeply share with our Chinese neighbors...
Now, with miscued demands from a distorted market like ours how else do expect the Europeans to respond? Plonk in some cheap Chinese entertainment gear in the name of an "IPL edition" in a Vento or some chrome blings for an "Absolute edition" in a Linea...
How can then we expect a Fiat to introduce their Multi-Air and 1.6 Multijet-II or Volkswagen to introduce their TSi or DSG on their B segment cars?
When we have not yet evolved to appreciate the Haldex clutch system that the Yeti uses, or the purpose behind its small form factor, the easy thing Skoda would perhaps do to rake in the numbers is to launch an extended wheel base Yeti on a 4x2 Ambition or Active.
But is that a direction we want our market to take where we want to stretch everything into an MPV? If so we, we may never find a place for the likes of a Nissan Qashqai as it would not be a CAAAAAAR we can ever appreciate... |