The VW jetta is here

If you believe the tech specs you will certainly feel VW is selling a c-segment car for the price of a d-segment one.We have C -segment sedans with more powerful engines forget about competition like the Honda civic.Yes petrol prices are high but if you end up with the VW petrol something surely is wrong considering the cheaper rivals like the Honda Civic and the upcoming Toyota corolla.Guess this is the german joke VW are referring to in their ads.

The saving grace ofcourse is the 1.9L tdi [diesel engine] but again prices are still on the higher side with cars like the Honda accord within striking distance.The diesel engine after its success in the skoda laura should be the one most buyers would opt for.The VW family[includes skoda] believe that Indians ought to pay a significant premium for buying cars from their line-up and their strategy has not been a complete failure so far.

What are the goodies you get for the top of the range variant.For starters you get 8 airbags then there is the six speed auto-box[DSG] however that is only for the diesel variant.

Prices range between Rs.13 lakhs to Rs16.70 lakhs[ex-showroom delhi]

Tech specs:
1>1.6L petrol engine: Power 102ps@5600 rpm and torque 148Nm@3800rpm

2>1.9L TDi[diesel] engine: Power 105ps@4000 rpm and torque 250Nm@1900rpm

Is it worth the money.In my opinion no,I would stick with the cheaper japanese cars.I just hope Toyota don't get the wrong ideas from VW after the Jetta launch.Then ofcourse there is the skoda laura,why would you put your money on the VW.

[image source:wikipedia]

Former Toyota boss now joins VW.

Its official now former Toyota India deputy MD Mr. K.K. Swamy is now onboard the VW family where he has also been given a promotion from his present position.

Mr.K.K.Swamy is now Managing Director and vice-president of Volkswagen India.He shall report directly to the president of VW India Jorg Muller.

As promised earlier Mr.K.K. Swamy would be on vacation for a while and shall join VW india only on July 21.

Mr.K.K. Swamy was not only a key man at Toyota india but also in the company he was working at earlier[The Kirloskar group]

Like I said before Toyota's loss could very well be VW's gain.

[source:BusinessStandard]

VW to invest heavily in India

Volkswagen had entered India with an initial plan of makings investments to the core of Rs. 2500 crore. Now it has reshaped its outlay and has decided to step up the investments up to the Rs. 3500 crore. This means it would become the largest German firm in India to make such big investments.

The company also plans to launch a new model in the price band of Rs 5 lakh by end 2012. It can be the “Up!’ model that was showcased this year in Delhi Auto Expo this year. However, these can be pure speculations too. According to the company President and Managing Director, Joerg Mueller, decision to increase the investments in India is a result of increase in production of Skoda Fabia.

The Pune plant would now manufacture its model Skoda Fabia which is currently being assembled at one of its subsidiary. This would results in cutting the costs which could mean more competitive pricing. Skoda Fabia already qualifies as a small car as it is less than four meters and has 1.4 liter diesel engine.

Skoda plans to bring Polo by the year 2010 and plans to manufacture 15000 Fabias in the first year of its production. According to Mueller, the company also plans to import Beetle and retail it in India. The landed cost for the Beetle is expected to be Rs 8 lakh owing to the duty levy of 100% plus.

Source - Cartradeindia

Coming soon the Skoda Octavia rival -VW Jetta

We shall soon see the Octavia's sibling the VW jetta on Indian roads.The launch date is likely between may and june,2008.Unlike earlier media predictions[where it was supposedly going to be priced alongside the Honda city] the Jetta is going to be launched in the Rs.13-15 lakhs category.
This will take it in Skoda Octavia category as well as pit it against the Skoda Laura too.Yes the jetta would be a much more modern offering compared to the octavia but if you ask me to pick between the Laura and the Jetta ,I would prefer the Skoda Laura.Not for nothing has the Laura[new generation octavia] been winning reliability awards year after year even beating japanese rivals while VW seem to be having lots of problems on this front.

Expect the Jetta to be similarly speced as the Laura.The jetta introduction could possibly be a killer blow for the Octavia.

Just Have to see how VW plan to sell their cars,i.e. will it be through existing skoda dealerships.

PS:Also part of the article from business standard were other cars from VW in the future.It said the polo and the production version of the UP concept would be here.The Polo would be priced at around Rs. 4.30 lakhs while the UP at around Rs. 1.80 lakhs.These cars would take some time to come to India however[upto 2012 even].

[Source:Business Standard]
[image source:nextcar,milteksport,paddocktalk,autocult]

Is selling a cheap car a sin?

Yes that seems to be the attitude adopted by the car manufacturers off late.Everyone wants to play the premium tag.Nobody wants to sell affordable ,value for money cars.Value for money really has become a bad word as far as car manufacturers are concerned[atleast the established brands].

Skoda wants to move on as a premium car manufacturer and so is VW.Honda are planning to sell only the most expensive cars in their segment after the success of this strategy with the CRV.The latest attempt is more an attempt to take on the Bmw and the Mercedes customers rather than cater to the middle class as it has done so far in the US markets.Honda have publicly stated that as part of its global strategy if they ever come across a Honda Taxi they will buy it back[Premium hotels are exempt from this rule] guess thats why you hardly come across a Honda taxi.Even Hyundai are moving towards the premium segment cars.Its the same with Toyota too their cars just keep getting expensive with each passing generation though I have not yet heard of their premium tag aspirations.

Yes it is profitable to sell these so called premium cars but when everybody wants to play the same card it could just backfire.They should not forget that traditionally they were the ones to benefit from overpriced cars from rivals now somebody else could fill their shoes.

[Image source:wikipedia]

VW to develop country specific products for markets like India

Its no secret that VW has an ambitious target of unseating Toyota and becoming the largest Automobile Manufacturer in the world by 2015.Not only in terms of sales but also in terms of profitability,quality and customer satisfaction even.The key driver for this would be emerging markets like India and China.

Although Skoda is doing pretty well in India ,VW as a brand is not present in India in a big way.VW are happy with Skoda's success and want to cash in further by introducing VW branded vehicles in the mainstream market.However what was not yet clear is which vehicles they would bring in for India.Now CEO Martin Winterkorn says that the days of one car for the entire global market is over and nowadays customers demand different models according to the local taste.So the same car may not do well in one market while it would be doing really well in another.VW will now develop country specific vehicles.

While I do not totally disagree with this conclusion I sincerely hope that VW does not mean that markets like ours should get stripped down ,outdated vehicles or what is known as vehicles developed for the third world countries.Consumer needs have changed now and even in countries like India we expect the best.

Maruti Suzukis replacement for the Maruti 800

Right from the onset ,Tata have made it quite clear that they plan to take on the Maruti 800.So whether it was internal space or mileage it was the Maruti 800 which was on the radar.Even efore the Nano has actually hit the roads the 800 sales are dwindling so it would have been impossible for it to compete with the Nano.

So maruti now are talking about a replacement for the Maruti 800 which would be more oriented towards design,features and quality than actually using price as its USP.According o Sify this new car is code named "YR9" and has a tall boy design[increasing interior space].It is being speculated that this car would have a 660cc engine and Maruti engineers are attempting to better the 20kmpl figure of the Tata Nano.This car would be more expensive than the Nano but may just be a bit cheaper than the present 800 although pricing details not yet known.

Now if you ask me what I think of this strategy,I say brilliant.It is getting too crowded at the bottom of the car buyers pyramid in India and really volume expectations from the manufacturers for this segment is a bit too unrealistic.They are assuming that all of India is going to buy from the A segment of cars.So we will have Tata,Maruti,Bajaj-Renault,Possibly GM with a chinese tie-up but is there actually such a huge market in this segment.Moreover this segment means customers may associate the manufacturer with the mass market tag and not like to associate themselves with the higher end cars from the same manufacturer.Volumes are good but in the end its the Margins that matter after all why did VW move from the People's car manufacturer tag to now a literally Luxury car manufacturer.

Skoda India to Launch cheaper 1.6L Skoda Octavia

Skoda want to cash in further on the popularity of the octavia and now want to target consumers from the lower segments.Skoda now plan to introduce a cheaper 1.6L variant of the octavia.Though no mention has been made of whether it would be a petrol or diesel engine,in all probabilty it would be a petrol engine only[FSI or MPI not sure about that].

This move has been preempted by the recent price reduction of the Skoda laura in the form of a new variant the Ambiente[Ex-showroom price between 12.90lakhs to 13.21 lakhs depending on city ]which would have cannibalized sales of the Octavia.

Mr Karsten Bogun, Managing Director of the company, said: “We are looking at various updates on the Octavia, it ranges from style to powertrain but it would be premature to talk about it; we have not finalised anything on it as yet.”

However it would be interesting to see if Skoda manage to price the octavia on par with the Honda city,what Skoda need to keep in mind is thats its diesel engines are the main reason for the popularity of the Skoda brand apart from the German build quality,a diesel engine from skoda at that price level would be a killer blow.Also Skoda may have to compete with its inhouse rival the VW Jetta with VW too having similar plans.However one thing is clear this aging model is not going to die out in a hurry.

[Source:Hindu]

Related post:
Skoda India Launches the Laura Ambiente

VW planning cheap sedan for asia-pacific region

Close on the heels of the dacia logan entry to India,VW wants a cheap sedan for the entire asia pacific region,and guess who its patner would be Proton.

VW may just use the proton brand for their cheap cars arm so that the VW brand image is not tarnished.

So much for the reliability aspect of their cars.