Team-BHP - Skoda Kylaq Pre-Production Camouflaged Car First Drive & Preview

Pricing is decent after the initial hype, they could have got the Signature automatic below 10L for the buzz to continue.

Skoda is offering free service for 3 years for the first 33,333 customers which is good, otherwise too the service cost will range between 7500-8000 INR based on our experience with the Kushaq 1L TSI.

Lava blue and red would be my favourite colors.

Incremental price rise version to version is very high compared to increase in features. The Price gap of 75k to 100k would have created more value. 1.40L to 1.80L price gap will lead to difference of 1.60L to 2.00L for ON ROAD price. Now Classic model, though very basic, it is best value proposition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Staraptor (Post 5886943)

Am I the only one who seems to be disappointed with the pricing?

IMO, a rear wiper/washer should be standard across all variants of a hatch style body, my 22 year old Santro had it.
Skoda has gone the Hyundai way by restricting it to the top-end variant…

…I do believe that even the automatic which is priced 1.1 lakh more is worth the extra money. Or let go of a few features and get the AX5L/AX7 for less…

They should have at least provided adaptive guidelines in rear camera. Cars at half the price have this but Skoda/VW have been stuck with static lines.

I absolutely hate it when companies force us to give them our contact details for downloading a brochure. It's almost disrespectful to the potential customer.

Attaching the brochure here for ease of access:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABGWD (Post 5879199)

Surprised that rear wiper is available in Prestige variant but not Signature/+. Isn't this a safety feature that should be mandated. Experienced drivers, your thoughts?

It should be a safety feature ideally. But that's not how the regulators and the manufacturers see it.

It's unfortunate that such an essential item is included only in the highest variant. Sometimes, it feels like safety is just a lip-service by the manufacturers

The difference between the Prestige and Signature+ trims are quite huge, and neither seems value for money to me. The prestige gets this stuff extra over the Signature+:

Rear wiper and washer
Sunroof
17” alloys
Paddle shifters (AT)
Leatherette seats and armrests
Ventilated and powered seats
Fog lamps w/ cornering
Projector lamp instead of led
Rain sensing wipers
Auto dimming IRVM
Wireless charger

That's a lot of stuff missing from the Signature+. Why even this variant is priced at 12.4L for the AT is beyond me, especially as this is the introductory price. Something around 11.5 would have made sense given the Prestige pricing. But they seem to have overpriced the Prestige by a solid 80k-1L considering the competition and it's equipment level as well (3XO AX7 @ 14L). :Frustrati

Skoda's take on the Kylaq's features and pricing:

- Kylaq is the first rightly priced Skoda

-Company hopes it will be able to take its annual sales in the country up to 1,00,000 units.

-Skoda has done very uniquely with the Kylaq is how the colour options are spread out across the line-up.

-The base Classic trim only gets a few basic colours, with the entire palette being available from the Signature trim onwards. However, some of these colours will have to be optionally availed for a price of Rs 9,000.

- It is only on the top-spec Prestige trim all colours are available as standard, and it even gets an exclusive Olive Gold shade. This, again, has been done to price the mid-spec trims competitively, allowing customers to spec their car as desired by paying extra.

Quote:

“In order to make the Prestige buyer feel special, who is paying the most money for the car, we have kept all the colours free in the top-spec trim. However, we are charging a premium of Rs 9,000 from the Signature trim onwards for a few specific colours. It will keep these colours which are in more demand exclusive to people who are willing to pay for it. That way people can have their car exactly as they would like to have it. I think Rs 9,000 for a colour also isn’t a very big premium.”

Link:

Spot-on pricing from Skoda. It's comparable with most other cars in the same segment. I am sure Skoda will have a better badge value compared to other cars in the segment. It should definitely have some takers in the cities. Note: Only in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.

Skoda has a long way to go if they need to compete in numbers with other mainstream manufacturers like MSIL, Hyundai twins, Mahindra, and Tata. They need to improve their sales and service network. Mainstream buyers are also afraid about Skoda's maintenance cost in general.

Don't rush guys, wait for some time. Let deliveries start in the market first and see how are initial reviews from buyers. Skoda is not kind of expert in small car segment, so its better to wait. Pricing is definitely on higher side and Skoda should have priced it little on lower side IMO. Similar model from VW would be definitely better looking than this, so people should wait for it before buying this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aniketi (Post 5887063)

-- IMO. Similar model from VW would be definitely better looking than this, so people should wait for it before buying this.

VW's Compact SUV is not yet approved for India launch. Even if launched, it will not be earlier than 2026.