Interesting to see Avant's letter to Autocar agreeing with their view that the thick end of £20K for a Yeti is too much. I hear that the much talked about Fabia Vrs replacement (if it ever sees light of day) will be £16K.
Skoda make wonderful cars but their prime sales virtue was offering all of VWs quality for a lot less. Is it only Autocar, Avant and myself that share this view?
|
If you want a shock, have a look at any ? price list, for any car. Then convert to £ at the current x/r.
The French Skoda website features 3 Yeti models from ?19K to ?23K.
There are Golf's on the VW German website at over ?30K
|
Yes Bill I saw this and to think ten years ago Top Gear magazine printed a booklet (which I still have) advising you to go to huge hassle to import a car from the continent.
Still think Skoda are very bullish with these new prices though.
|
Skoda used to be the value brand for the VW empire, but not any more. VWs haven't been good value for years, Seat is too strongly styled to attract people who buy on price. Having a stack of mid to upmarket brands in a UK market worn down by recession doesn't make sense to me.
Unless, of course, they think they'll hoover up people/businesses who can no longer afford BMW, Mer...and Audi.
|
I actually think the market is ending for VAG sort of cars. There is far too much supply and I think VAG needs to loose a brand but of course if they are selling all is well. The likes of Kia and Hyundai have filled the gap Skoda have left.
Also some of Skoda's exellent reliability seems to be wearing thiner these days.
|
A bit tangential maybe, but I've been looking at the Octavia as an alternative to the Golf which SWMBO has her heart set on. however (to my surprise) you have to add safety items such as curtain airbags and ESP as optional extras on all but the top of the range model (on which they're standard) then the prices come surprisingly close to the VW.
I may be mistaken but even the VRs might not have curtain airbags as standard.
This also rules out 'new' second hand cars as I'd guess that people rarely specify these as extras, but they've been standard on any Golf, Civic or even a Focus for a number of years.
Puts me off anyhow.....
|
|
|
|
Thanks Mattbod - I've been away on holiday or would have replied earlier.
I'm not sure if Skoda's pricing policy can be called a strategy - given that they have got it wrong with the Yeti - but the cheaper versions of each model undercut the equivalent base VW (base Octavia is £3,000 less than a base 5-door Golf), whereas the upmarket versions are much nearer to VW in list price.
My last car was a Golf estate TDI 140 - this cost much the same as an Octavia with a similar level of trim and equipment. If VW did a Golf estate with the CR 170 engine I might have had another VW instead of my current vRS.
I thonk every manufacturer needs to look very carefully at what else might be on prospective buyers' shopping lists. Were Skoda aware that an upmarket Yeti costs more than a base Freelander (although admittedly it won't go wrong as often)?
|
Understand the point about the bottom end. my Octabvia is an Elegance so towards the upper end.
I added some of the safety extras (e.g. airbags) and the equivalent Golf would have needed a better radio to match the Octavia (18 months ago the Golf/Jetta did not play MP3 or have an aux socket) and on list price with equivalent specs the Golf was £1000 (on 17k) more (so more tax) and within a tenner on the monthly lease.
The different standard fit / options tell you they are aimed at different parts of the market.
|
|
|
|
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/9463e8d1572360de0def7f3fd0be3a64/68ef873e609dc2b92157ab4323e149a2.jpg)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/dd01c4db6c42e40adc980b70af1bad85/dc45ba9d6d739b04a9f4ae0d46d989e9.png)
![2019 Skoda Kodiaq vRS 2.0 BiTDI 239 vRS 4x4 5dr DSG [7 Seat]](https://img.common.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/unsafe/trim/90x60/smart/filters:quality(70):no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/fallback/coming-soon.webp)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/84783342da760a83a7d85dd5a3534cb8/d508c7ccf0534f620c8fb6fa9e4e2676.jpg)
