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NEWS
No go for Skoda Citigo
The Australian introduction of Skoda's trendy city-car, the Citigo, appears to have hit a brick wallSkoda's first sub-light car, the VW up!-based Citigo, is looking increasingly unlikely to be sold in Australia, according to company CEO, Dr Winfried Vahland.
Under the guidance of former chief Matthew Wiesner, Skoda Australia previously confirmed the Citigo for local release around May, but when motoring.com.au asked the Czech brand’s global boss if and when the pint-size Citigo will be introduced, he replied: "I don't think so."
Previously Skoda's CEO was non-committal on whether Citigo would be offered here, but now it appears the writing is on the wall and – since Volkswagen Group Australia released the almost identical up! here priced lower than expected from $13,990 – it appears the Fabia will remain Skoda’s smallest model Down Under for the foreseeable future.
"To be honest I haven't been to Australia yet, but my feeling is that the size of the car is important also in Australia. It's a huge country, a lot of distances, and that's why I believe the Fabia is a perfect car."
Slow sales of the VW up! haven't helped either, with the manual-only 1.0-litre vehicle recording just 56 registrations in December 2012. Since going on sale in September, 531 examples have been sold.
Skoda Australia spokesman Karl Gehling conceded that "at this stage there are no plans to bring it (the Citigo) here."
However, getting the compact Skoda's price below the $14K mark of the up! is not a major reason for the Citigo's no-show in Australia, said Mr Gehling.
"It's more about this: we've got two critical models with the Rapid and Octavia to work through first.
"In terms of the priority list the focus is on the key set of volume models," he said.
Another car Skoda will never bring to Australia, nor to anywhere in the world, is a V8-powered vehicle.
Dr Vahland said he loves V8s and said it would be a "dream of mine" to have one in the Skoda line-up, but cited impending Euro 6 emissions legislation as sounding the death gong for the V8.
"The future of V8 is very limited, as the new (Euro 6) legislation comes..."
The Skoda supremo said that people who want V8 power can get similar performance from a modern six-cylinder engine.
"The tendency [of motorists who] formerly drove a V8 will drive a V6, and he who drove a V6 will drive a four-cylinder turbo. It is the tendency of downsizing."
Downsizing indeed, but clearly the trend will not stretch as far as the Citigo for Australian motorists.
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Written byFeann Torr
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