Many people call Skoda a cheap version of Volkswagen because it is built on the same platform as Volkswagen, with the same engine and gearbox, and many core components are also universal. However, seemingly more cost-effective Skoda, sales are facing a situation of defeat and retreat, in November, the main model Octavia sold 1823 units a month, this year, there has not been a monthly sales of more than 2000 units, the monthly sales of the Skoda brand has never crossed the 10,000 unit mark this year, has been completely reduced to a marginal brand, what is wrong with this century-old store?
To figure out this problem, but also from the specific model to see, we take the latest listed Octavia PRO as an example, the initial listing after the indiscriminate publicity, let people know that it uses Volkswagen's new MQB Evo platform to build, compared to the ordinary MQB platform, MQB Evo platform in the electrification and intelligent transformation has a significant upgrade, The interior of the 10.3-inch LCD instrument and 12.1-inch central control large-screen technology is full of fan, the use of the same platform also has the new Audi A3 and the eighth generation of golf, Langyi and Sagitar do not have this treatment, it can be seen that SAIC Volkswagen has high expectations for Octavia PRO.
In addition, Octavia PRO also adopts a new design style, the appearance uses the RS sports kit style, the classic straight waterfall hexagonal grille design continues the family tradition, the integrated headlights are more slender, and the taillash-like taillights echo, the entire body of the line sharp and dynamic, so that it presents a fighting posture, more in line with the appetite of young people. The size of the new car is also fully close to volkswagen Sagittarius, its length, width and height are 4753 * 1832 * 1469mm, the wheelbase has reached 2730mm, the rear space has been greatly improved, plus it still retains the hatchback tailgate, the practicality is among the best in the same level.
In terms of power, Octavia PRO series uses a 1.4T engine from Volkswagen, this engine code-named EA211 has been in the car market for many years, the maximum power of 110kW and the maximum torque performance of 250N .m are decent, but the use of dual-clutch transmission can play out its power completely, acceleration feeling and gear shift speed are among the best in the same class, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of 5.5L/100km is also good.
The above are the advantages of this car, it is reasonable to say that the product strength of Octavia PRO should not even sell 2,000 units a month, based on which I summarized the following reasons:
First, Skoda brand power in a serious decline, in the past can also be called a second-tier brand, but now compared with Chevrolet, Mazda and Hyundai and other brands has been opened up a lot of gap, in the eyes of many people Skoda has been and JEEP, Mitsubishi and other brands, belongs to the marginalized joint venture brand, is not the first and second choice when consumers buy a car.
Second, Skoda is in a vicious circle of double decline in brand and sales, its dealers have been rumored to be large-scale withdrawal from the network, the performance is not much better than Peugeot / Citroen, just take our third-tier cities as an example, the whole city can only find a distribution outlet, less than Chevrolet and Hyundai, greatly limiting people's choices.
Third, although the Octavia PRO is good, its guidance price of 12.49-15.79 million yuan is not expensive compared to the volkswagen of the same level, but Volkswagen's Langyi and Sagitar and other models have a large discount, the terminal landing price is not much higher than the Octavia PRO, and volkswagen is much better than Skoda in terms of brand and retention rate, compared to the volkswagen's cost performance.
In fact, Skoda's entire brand is facing such an embarrassing situation, up to the public, down is not willing to increase the preferential margin to compete with Chevrolet, Kia and other brands, and finally put themselves in an embarrassing situation of high or low, Speed, Kodiak and Octavia PRO are all the same.
Written in the end, Skoda's current situation is very dangerous, it reminds me of Suzuki Motors, which also enjoys a good reputation in the international community, Suzuki Motors chose to withdraw from China because of the water and soil, will Skoda be far away? What do you think?