Czech car maker Skoda feels it’s time to significantly expand its presence in the Australian market. Though it has been here since October 2007, Skoda originally concentrated on midlevel models like the Octavia and Superb. Now it wants to move into the affordable segments, particularly those showing high growth rates.
While sales of large cars are declining in Australia, small cars and midsize SUVs continue to leap forward every year. So Skoda is about to import the Fabia, a small car that shares its underpinnings with the popular Volkswagen Polo, as well as a midsize SUV with the interesting title of Yeti. The latter is modelled on the Volkswagen Tiguan.
Skoda has been a member of the Volkswagen Group for the past 20 years having been absorbed into the German giant when it ceased to be owned by the Czechoslovakian state when communism became a thing of the past.
The Czechs have been renowned for their engineering ability for centuries and we have spoken to engineers within Skoda who are delighted at now being able to use their imaginations, something that was frowned upon when the company was government controlled. Volkswagen has done pretty well out of the deal as well, finding many people in Skoda who take pride in their work, but who don’t hesitate to criticise if they feel head office in Germany is on the wrong track.
Anyway, back to Skoda’s plans for Australia. The Head of Skoda in Australia, Matthew Wiesner, explains the relatively slow start in the sales race was due to initially importing relatively upmarket models to try and build a name for the virtually unknown Skoda brand. He explained that it was easier to start with high-level models then back off to lower-priced ones, than to do the opposite.
His argument is that the Japanese and Koreans made their name as importers of affordable cars, but are now struggling to lift their image and get a strong foothold in medium level vehicles.
Having said that, Wiesner admitted that the new Fabia and Yeti need to be priced to compete with Asian imports as he is not yet confident buyers regard Skoda as a significant European marque.
Skoda Roomster, a fascinating looking compact people mover that was comparatively expensive when introduced to Australia in 2007, but later discontinued, will be making a return as part of the new sales push. Ours is a relatively conservative market and the radical shape of the Roomster worked against it, but the real killer was the $30,000 price tag. Roomster, which shares its front-end with the Skoda Fabia hatchback and station wagon, will return to Australia with a recommended retail that’s likely to be on the low side of $25,000.
Skoda will debut its new models with a big splash at the Melbourne motor show at the end of June and into July. Cars will go on sale in several stages during the rest of the year, with the big push being on the Yeti SUV. We will provide details when we attend Australian launches of each new Skoda.
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