A lot of things have no reason.
Just as the popularity of French cars in the new car market and the second-hand market is completely different, even if they are of the same Ashkenazi origin, or even belong to the Volkswagen Group, volkswagen and Skoda brands seem to be walking on different roads.
Compared with the smooth sailing of the Volkswagen brand in the Chinese market in recent years, the presence of the Skoda brand is obviously much lower. Skoda can't follow the footprints of the Volkswagen brand, and this is not the only option in front of Skoda. Fortunately, with the successive upgrades of model products, marketing services and brand levels, the Skoda brand is returning to the mainstream in a different route from the Volkswagen brand.
01
The new Octavia PRO is born
For those users who often brush the short video of Douyin, they may have inadvertently brushed several commercials of Skoda's new Octavia PRO. Different from the grand narrative style common in automotive product advertising, Skoda has made an interesting interpretation of the detailed configuration and functions of the new Octavia PRO from the perspective of ordinary people.
Skoda has changed. In the past few years, as a member of the Volkswagen brand, there seems to be a clear dividing line between the Skoda brand and the Volkswagen brand. Different from the high-mindedness of the mass brand, the low profile of the Skoda brand has even become the first cognition of Skoda by many users, and this low profile often makes users ignore Skoda.
Skoda no longer wants to be that low-key bystander, and the new Octavia PRO is a great opportunity.
Since the beginning of localization in 2007, in different periods, Octavia has become a force to be reckoned with in the domestic A+ class sedan market. A series of industry-leading process technologies such as 1.8T turbo engine, Tiptronic 6-speed manual transmission, laser welding technology, etc., laid a cost-effective label for Octavia and Skoda, and even Octavia became synonymous with Skoda.
As Skoda's most influential model, the new Octavia PRO represents ŠKODA's response to the current era and the latest understanding of domestic users. As the first model based on the MQB-EVO digital platform in the two camps of SAIC Volkswagen and Skoda brands, the new Octavia PRO continues to open up the boundaries of the Ashkenazi family car in terms of digitization and technology, and the PRO added to the name has also been given more connotations.
Thanks to the application of the new digital architecture, the new Octavia PRO communication speed is 4 times faster than the previous generation model, equipped with 15 ultrasonic/millimeter wave radar + 5 cameras, providing W-Hud head-up display, electronic gear, 360 ° panoramic image and other cross-level equipment, and also has L2+ level driver assistance functions. It can be said that the new Octavia PRO makes Skoda no longer a "vassal" and "equal replacement" of the Volkswagen brand, but truly stands on the same competitive stage as the Volkswagen brand and all other joint venture platforms, and sets a new digital intelligence benchmark.
The value of the new Octavia PRO is gradually fermenting in the market. In the China Automotive Industry User Satisfaction Evaluation (CACSI) organized by the China Association for Quality this year, the new Octavia PRO won the first place in the satisfaction of car users in the market in 2021.
02
Rebuild the product matrix
Reinvigorating the brand with a model is a topic that has long been falsified in the current passenger car market. Skoda is no exception, and the new Octavia PRO will not be the only model in the process of brand rejuvenation, and the new Kodiak, which will be launched early next year, will become a key model for Skoda to rebuild its product matrix.
It is understood that the new Kodiak ushered in a comprehensive upgrade from the inside out, and the domestic model will adopt the sporty design elements of the overseas version of the Skoda RS model, which is younger than the current model. In terms of interior, the new Kodiak adopts a new suspended streamer interior design, changing the current embedded central control screen to a more technologically innovative suspension design, and also benefits from this change, in which the console can be designed to be thinner and more layered, and the visual effect is significantly improved.
In terms of intelligence, the new Kodiak will become the first SAIC Volkswagen model to connect to the MOS 3.X digital vehicle connection system. The new system unlocks new features such as Avatar's intelligent personal assistant, scenario-based maps, driving video recording and taking photos, and uses emotion-empowering technology to make smart cars no longer cold digital tools.
The new Kodiak will continue to be equipped with the third-generation EA888 series 2.0T turbo engine and the 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, which is a golden powertrain, and the characteristics of low speed and high torque will continue, which is not only suitable for daily urban commuting, but also gives users full confidence in high-speed sections.
As a member of the Ashkenazi camp, the new Kodiak adopts a comprehensive and holistic security architecture, taking into account both active and passive security, bringing comprehensive security protection to users. At the same time, laser welding, PVC chassis armor, cavity wax injection and other technologies and processes with obvious German characteristics have also enabled the new Kodiak to maintain the same high standard of vehicle quality as always.
Unlike the new Octavia PRO, the new Kodiak will have a 5-seat version, a 7-seat version and a sports GT model for users to choose from, which means that although after the release of the two models, Skoda only has a layout in the A+ class sedan market and the intermediate SUV market, but based on the huge potential of the two main markets, as well as for the intermediate SUV market differentiation, personalized user needs, Skoda basically has the ability to return to the mainstream track.
03
Localized attitude and determination
Skoda hopes to regain its former glory with the new Octavia PRO and the new Kodiak, which obviously requires more efforts in the eyes of more and more Chinese users. Through a series of localization details, Skoda also showed enough sincerity.
The new Kodiak did not completely copy the design of the overseas version of the model, but adopted the sporty design elements of the RS model, which is obviously more in line with the youthful consumer needs of Chinese users, and this is just a detail of Skoda's changes to cater to the Chinese market.
In fact, in the process of localization of models, it is not uncommon for Skoda to optimize the Chinese market. The new Kodiak's exclusive interior design in China, the new Octavia PRO's further extended wheelbase, and the contrasting design of the Komic GT, Skoda has made targeted changes to show its humility to Chinese users.
Even in the "core" of the vehicle intelligent system, Skoda has opened its doors to the Chinese market. As early as the beginning of 2019, Skoda cooperated with Zebra Network, becoming the first batch of joint venture brands to carry out in-depth cooperation with local car networking solution providers, and took the lead in installing zebra Zhixing interconnection system on Octavia models, with OTA air upgrades, smart refueling, smart parking and massive third-party entertainment information applications, making vehicles enter the era of networking.
In 2020, the ŠKODA intelligent vehicle connection system was launched and applied to many models such as kodiak and speed pai. It is worth mentioning that at the software level, Skoda has not been complacent, and has integrated many localization Internet service projects that Chinese users need, including real-time traffic data provided by AutoNavi, rich third-party in-car applications such as Kuwo Music and Himalaya, and intelligent home appliance linkage based on JD.com's Xiaoyu IoT platform, etc., making Skoda take a big step towards "user thinking".
For Skoda, the "shelter" from the Volkswagen brand also became a "shackle" for a time. Under the framework of ŠKODA's global strategy, for Chinese users, we have tried to localize products, services and marketing, so that Skoda has found the trick to restore its vitality in China.
To provide a high-quality digital service experience for Chinese users, through cultural insights into Chinese users, Skoda intends to build itself into a car brand with temperature. This brand, which is widely recognized as low-key, cost-effective and practical, has not torn off the label of the past, but has added digital, local and open characteristics.
In the Chinese market, Skoda restarted its engine.