Skoda cars like the Fabia, Rapid and Laura could see price cuts in India as Volkswagen wants to reposition brand

In the times to come, Skoda cars like the Fabia, Rapid, Laura and Superb could see price cuts in the Indian car market. These price cuts come on the back of the Volkswagen group, which owns the Czechoslovakian car brand Skoda, mulling a brand repositioning in India. In India, the Volkswagen group sells both Volkswagen and Skoda branded cars and both these brands are placed quite close to each other with Skoda slightly undercutting Volkswagen?s products especially when it comes to budget cars like the Skoda Fabia and the Rapid.

Internationally, Skoda cars are priced much lower than comparable Volkswagen products, thus clearly differentiating/delineating both the brands. To achieve the same in India, Skoda cars may see a price cut and be repositioned well below the cars that Volkswagen sells. In the past few months, we?ve been hearing about Skoda India aiming for higher levels of localization in its Indian car range, to make its cars more affordable. So, expect this process to be hastened and result in lower priced Skoda cars, especially the ones like the Fabia hatchback and the Rapid sedan.

Skoda entered the Indian car market much before Volkswagen launched its car range. Both Skoda and Volkswagen have been following the top-down approach while launching cars in India, with Skoda?s first car being the Octavia sedan while Volkswagen began its Indian foray with the Passat. After the launch of premium products, both the brands switched to mass market cars; Skoda launching the Fabia and the Rapid while Volkswagen launched the Polo and the Vento.

Despite the Volkswagen group being present in India for a decade now with the Skoda brand, the car making behemoth hasn?t been able to make as big an impact as it would have expected in the Indian car market due to a range of reasons. While one reason is the premium pricing, the ?premium? pricing and positioning is simply not backed up with good after sales service in many cases.

This has led to the average Indian car buyer being wary of Volkswagen and Skoda cars as the cost of ownership is perceived to be very high with high maintenance costs. That said, cars from the Skoda and Volkswagen brands come with premium quality that reflects in the solid build quality and well appointed interiors. Now, if only these brands could pull up their sleeves and deliver after sales befitting their positive attributes.

Source TheEconomicTimes

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