Skoda may return to the American market.

  • Thread starter The87Dodge
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I'm assuming Volkswagen has enough on its plate at the moment without trying to launch a brand that would compete directly with the Jetta and Passat that they specifically decontented for the American market so they could chase volume.
 
Bring it to the U.S. as a SUV/Truck brand similar to GMC. They already have the Amarok and according to the article a large SUV is in the works.

Replacing VW with Skoda would be the car equivalent of New Coke since they would still look like VW's.
 
I'd like to see them sell cars here, but if I were to own a Skoda, it'd probably be one of these:

Skoda.jpg
 
Grandea GTR
Aren't Skodas nowadays lower in price compared to VWs?
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Yes.

The base model Golf starts at $20,200 and the base Jetta starts at $18,000. That is kind of expensive for a compact hatchback and compact sedan. Maybe Skoda will target the $12.5k-18k range, being an entry level car brand.
 
Why bother? It would make the in-company competition even worse. Audi and Lambo already have some clashing interests in form of R8/Huracan, and higher end VW's are reasonable option for those who look into Audis but want something bit cheaper.. Skoda would have to sell their cars at ridiculously low prices.
 
Leonidae@MFT
Why bother? It would make the in-company competition even worse. Audi and Lambo already have some clashing interests in form of R8/Huracan, and higher end VW's are reasonable option for those who look into Audis but want something bit cheaper.. Skoda would have to sell their cars at ridiculously low prices.
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Who knows? VW have been doing some loony stuff as of late.
 
Leonidae@MFT
Skoda would have to sell their cars at ridiculously low prices.
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It would have to be that way in order to sell a substantial amount of cars. If the cheapest Skoda model is $12-13k, than most likely it well sell at least decently, as long as it's not super ugly or unreliable. Having Skoda price their cars in the 18k-40k range would mean that Skoda might steal sales from VW. And it can't be a luxury brand either; that's what Audi is there for.
 
The difference between Skoda and VW in price isn't even that much.

But Imo the Current Octavia and Superb are better then the Golf and Passat.
 
mustafur
The difference between Skoda and VW in price isn't even that much.

But Imo the Current Octavia and Superb are better then the Golf and Passat.
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They're exactly same cars for petes sake! Only badge is different..
 
Leonidae@MFT
They're exactly same cars for petes sake! Only badge is different..
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Well no, the Octavia is much larger is a lift back and looks better then the Golf Imo, and the same I can say about the Superb.

The rear legroom on the Superb is otherworldly.
 
It'd follow the long VW North America tradition of doing things 15 years after they actually made sense.

Skoda could have been a good idea when the cars were still low-priced and VW was trying to push itself into the dying pseudo-luxury market. After all that's when Kia/Hyundai started actually trying to sell cars outside the Asian market and look at how big they've become in the past 15 years.
 
Skoda... return... US? I knew companies like Peugeot and Renault used to sell cars in the United States, but Skoda? Didn't know the Czech manufacturer sold cars here in the States. If they plan on returning, then all the better. Welcome back.
 
Ken
I didn't even know Skoda ever sold cars here.
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JohnBM01
Skoda... return... US? I knew companies like Peugeot and Renault used to sell cars in the United States, but Skoda? Didn't know the Czech manufacturer sold cars here in the States. If they plan on returning, then all the better. Welcome back.
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Skoda did sell a few thousand cars in the late 50's here in the states, but the brand left USA because the cars weren't selling as well as Skoda hoped.
 
I suspect that Skoda would do better than VW in the US if they could overcome VW's established brand. They make good cars which are essentially budget VWs, and that's perfect in a market where VWs are considered to be somewhat premium products.
 
Beeblebrox237
I suspect that Skoda would do better than VW in the US if they could overcome VW's established brand. They make good cars which are essentially budget VWs, and that's perfect in a market where VWs are considered to be somewhat premium products.
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The messaging on VW has been absolutely broken in the US for the past 20 years, and I suspect that's partially why they could be considering bringing in Skoda. They wiped out an entire generation of good faith buyers in the late '90s and early '00s with very shoddy quality and uncompetitive pricing, let alone a lineup that rarely met with the demands of the market. They've been a bungle of great ideas in concept form, dumb marketing ideas, good products, bad products, and the TDI scandal. They need a reset button ASAP.

A well placed lineup of "Skoda - by Volkswagen" would go a looooong way to shore up their efforts in the US if they could make the cars available in time. Something like the Yeti could easily be a great alternative to the Jeep Renegade and the Chevrolet Trax, while the Fabia would fill a hole that VW has entirely ignored (wrongfully so) over the past decade - a subcompact that could really take the fight to the Ford Fiesta and Honda Fit. I'd certainly throw up big question marks behind both the Octavia and the Superb, however. Unless Skoda's versions are very decontented compared to the Golf and Passat, I'm not sure how they'd fit in the lineup.
 
The Octavia is quite a bit bigger then the Golf and actually classed as Midsized, price wise it's probably one of the cheapest Midsizers on the market.

The top of the line vRS using the Golf GTI engine is only the same price as a midspec Mazda 6 or around the same as the Top Mazda 3 and in wagon it's beautiful.
skoda_octavia_wagon_vrs_rear.jpg
 
I would welcome Skoda. We need variety here, and a Czech brand would shake things up. I wonder if they'll bring in SUVs like Borgward?
 
There is only the Yeti and Octavia Scout(in Australia anyway) that are closest to anything like a crossover or suv.
 
When I think of Skoda, I usually think of the early-mid 2000s with Skoda racing in the World Rally Championship. That was my exposure to not only Skoda, but another VW/Audi brand- SEAT- which I've seen a few SEATs before. So Skoda shouldn't be entirely foreign and unknown to most of us here in the States. If you followed the WRC the past 20 years, you probably heard of Skoda. Only thing is... what models will Skoda offer to the US market, and how would they stack up against similar cars sold here among domestic and import brands? We'll learn a lot more once Skoda offers its vehicles here.
 
mustafur
The Octavia is quite a bit bigger then the Golf and actually classed as Midsized, price wise it's probably one of the cheapest Midsizers on the market.
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It's a great car, my father-in-law had one and I was astonished how good it was. His had the same interior trim as my Audi A4, which was impressive. The new Octavia is on the "MQB" platform so it's common with the Golf/A3 and Passat/A4.

Skodas, if you can get past the hatred of them in the 80s, are really good cars for the price, imo. The RS is stonking.
 
I kinda feel like that VW maybe following a similar strategy like Toyota does with Lexus and Nissan does with Infiniti, just the other way around in that Volkswagen would potentially take the place of the "luxury brand" and Skoda would be the cheaper, but not necessarely worse option. Just like here in Europe.

Like @YSSMAN said, Skoda could also be able to introduce the lower-end spectrum of their line up to the states in the form of the Fabia, which is a fantastic sub-compact, and maybe even the Roomster as I can't think of another brand offering anything similar, but then again I do believe that the Roomster is out-of-production even here in Europe.
But even cars like the Octavia, Yeti and Superb would make sense. They'd not neccesarely would steal sales from Volkswagen, but simply offer another alternative with the Octavia probably having the strongest competition in it's class with the Accord, Camry and so on, but then you could bring in the argument that you get the hipper styling compared to the competition, with the quality of Volkswagen but at a lower price.

I guess, we'll have to wait and see, but I do see a stark possibility for Volkswagen (and Skoda) to pull through with this strategy.
 
homeforsummer
Info there is a bit out of date. We already know the name of the large SUV - it's called the Kodiaq - and a Yeti replacement makes sense anyway as that car's pretty old now. I'm going to an event on the former later this year.
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They had better let people choose Meteor Grey as a colour option (if that's the one I'm thinking of that looks like a lacquered primer coat)
 

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