Official: Octavia RS to headline Skoda return

THE turbocharged Octavia RS will be the performance flagship of a revitalized Skoda model range to be officially launched at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney on October 11.

Volkswagen Group Australia officially announced the reintroduction of the VW Group’s Czech Republic brand subsidiary to the Australian market after an absence of nearly 25 years.

“We are officially now the Skoda importer for Australia, which is a wonderful thing for us,” VGA managing director Jutta Dierks told GoAuto today.

“We worked hard to get it and it took us a while, but now we’re really happy because the brand had a record year in 2006 of nearly 550,000 cars and, as we all know, it’s all about the timing. We think now is the best time to bring Skoda in,” said Ms Dierks.

As reported by GoAuto last October, VGA has been in negotiation to bring the budget-priced, family-oriented brand Down Under for some time, and had been expected to receive official VW Group endorsement late last year.

However, it took VGA longer than it expected to have its Skoda business case green-lighted, and pricing negotiations between VGA and its parent company are continuing.

The number of new vehicle marques represented in Australia swelled significantly last year, when DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge became the 43rd vehicle brand on sale here (via the Caliber small hatch in September), following Fiat – via the Punto light hatch – in July.

“Australia is a tough market for manufacturers – almost 50 brands are here - but customers are embracing new brands and we think we probably have a chance.

“Price level is tough and Skoda is basically selling everything they produce at the moment, so there was a tough discussion going on between headquarters and any potential importer about whether it makes sense or not.

“It took us a while to convince our colleagues,” said Ms Dierks.

“Pricing is always the issue because, as Volkswagen has proved in the past, you can come out with great products but if you don’t price them right, nobody will buy them. So of course that was one of the big issues – and it continues to be.”

Left: VGA's Jutta Dierks and Matthew Wiesner (top) Roomster (centre) and Fabia (bottom). Skoda’s Octavia medium hatch and wagon, as well as the compact Roomster people-mover, will form the basis of Skoda’s official relaunch range in October. Larger than their equivalent models from sister brand Volkswagen, they will also come with smaller pricetags.

The all-new Fabia hatch, revealed at this month’s Geneva motor show, will be released here next year, with a redesigned version of the Skoda’s Superb sedan flagship to follow by the end of 2009.

Roomster has proved a hit in Europe following its June 2006 launch - especially in its home market, where it has become the third best selling model behind stablemates Fabia and Octavia.

A close relative of VW’s light-sized Polo, the five-seat Roomster will not offer third-row seating like the Volkswagen’s similarly compact urban people-mover, the Caddy Life (75kW 1.6: $27,990). Roomster will vie for customers of cars like Renault’s Scenic, and sits mid-way between the next-generation Fabia and Octavia in terms of size.

Based on the second-generation Occtavia mid-sizer released overseas on 2004 and measuring 4572mm long, 1769mm wide and 1462mm high, the range-topping Octavia RS will be available here in both Liftback (likely to be marketed here as a sedan) and Estate bodystyles, powered by the Volkswagen Group’s 147kW TFSI turbocharged petrol four-cylinder.

Lesser Octavia variants will be motivated by 77kW 1.9-litre and 110kW 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engines, plus a naturally-aspirated direct-injection 103kW 2.0-litre petrol four – mated to a range of automatic and manual transmissions.

Though 55kW 1.4, 75kW 1.6 and 85kW 1.6-litre petrol engines won’t be sold here, the Jetta-based Octavia should still undercut its VW donor model’s starting price of $32,990 (110kW 2.0 FSI).

VGA officials were reluctant to divulge sales ambitions for Skoda in Australia, but scoffed at reports that up to 10,000 vehicles are forecast to be sold annually within four years.

“We will be very good value,” said the newly appointed head of Skoda in Australia, Matthew Wiesner, who will continue in his role as VGA’s general manager, press and public relations until the new franchise is up a running.

“We need to have a strong value proposition for all Skoda products – but we’re still going through our finishing touches with pricing and will have more to announce later.” Mr Wiesner suggested Skoda models would not just offer more space their opposite numbers at Volkswagen, but would also be more highly specified as standard. He said price, equipment and European-ness would be key selling points.

“Positioning of the brand is vital and we will put a lot of time into positioning the brand correctly. Of course we need to sell cars, but at the end of the day volume is not the be all and end all – we need to make sure we set it up correctly in the first place. Then opportunities may arise to do things among some of the Japansese brands that we can’t do at the moment with VW.

“It’s not just about price, it’s about value. We’ve got to make sure that Skoda is an option for those that may be driving Asian or Japanese vehicles that aspirational buyers want to drive – a well-specced, good value European car. And we very much see Skoda as a very good value European product and an option for that sort of person,” he said.

Ms Dierks said sales Skoda’s low public profile in Australia would see VGA attempt to increase it awareness rather than sales – at least initially.

“Skoda has been in Australia, and you have not really had a good experience with that so we want to try another approach,” she said “Because we are here for a long-term commitment we have to gain the trust back from customers and that will be a long-term project.

“It’s not about how much volume can we get as quickly as possible. It’s the other way round – grow the brand and then start to build volume. We want to grow the brand. We want to walk before we can run.” Last sold here officially in 1983, new Skoda vehicles will initially be made available through 12 to 15 existing Volkswagen dealerships in metropolitan and major regional locations.

The Skoda retail network will be expanded to more than 20 in 2008, meaning that - depending on sales and new model availability - up to half of VGA’s total of 56 dealerships could also double as Skoda outlets.

Ms Dierks said the local fate of Volkswagen’s other European family brand, Spain’s Seat, depended largely on the success of Skoda here.

“Seat is not closer because now we actually have to get Skoda up with limited resources, which is what we will focus on. On top of that we have to grow Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicle sales even further.

“The door is not closed, but at the moment we’ll concentrate on Skoda,” she said.

While new Seat vehicles were last sold in Australia in October 1999, when the Cordoba sedan and Ibiza hatch were discontinued, Skoda came under full Volkswagen ownership in 2000. The Czech firm began manufacturing motor cars in 1905 and is now sold in 90 countries. Skoda sold 549,667 vehicles in 2006 (an increase of over 11 per cent over the previous year), the first year Octavia outsold Fabia globally.