Skoda for Oz… Again!

Czech brand Skoda -- part of the giant Volkswagen Group -- is back on the agenda for a reintroduction in Australia. Exactly when is still the question, however.

Speaking at last week’s local launch of the new Volkswagen Passat (see review later this week), Volkswagen Australia marketing manager, Peter Dierks, said the timetable remains unresolved as the local subsidiary continues to negotiate with Skoda on the only major sticking point -- price.

Dierks says that Volkswagen Australia would like to be able to position the brand as an entry-level prospect at "Korean prices." Skoda executives back in Europe see the company’s products competing Down Under on Japanese price points.

If VW-Oz was forced to try to sell its Skodas at the latter, it would not only be competing with the Japanese but also its own Volkswagen products, a situation Dierks says would not make sense.

A reintroduction of Skoda has been on and off and back on Volkswagen Australia's agenda for many years with discussions having started under the old Inchcape distribution. However, the potential for a return of the brand was given a significant boost at last September's Frankfurt Motor Show when Skoda Chairman and CEO, Detlef Wittig, suggested the brand could be on sale here by June 2006.

Dierks says this will now not be the case but that the company is continuing discussions and hopes to reintroduce Skoda some time in 2007.

Dierks says two products that would likely be offered from launch include the small-medium Octavia hatch (which shares components with the recently launched VW Golf/Jetta) and the new Roomster mini peoplemover. The latter was launched at the Geneva Motor Show last month.

The Octavia is offered in Europe with a range of four-cylinder petrol engines from 1.4-litres to the latest direct-injection 2.0-litre FSI unit and 1.9 and 2.0-litre direct-injection diesel engines. Transmissions for the five-door sedan-styled hatchback include five and six-speed manual and six-speed automatic as well as DSG.

The Roomster is a versatile mini peoplemover that can be converted from a two to five-seater with myriad seat/cargo combinations. European engine options run from 1.2 to 1.6-litre petrol and 1.4 and 1.9-litre diesels although, as with the Octavia, likely engines for Australia would be the larger capacity units.

If and when Skoda does return, the brands products would be sold through Volkswagen dealers although each would be required to set up a separate branded sales facility.

Skoda cars were last sold in Australia in 1983 when the 1.2-litre 120L four-door sedan was discontinued. That was before the company became part of the Volkswagen Group.

Under its Volkswagen ownership, Skoda has flourished in Europe as a value-for-money alternative to the parent brand with which its products share platforms and components.

While Skoda looks set to arrive Down Under, Volkswagen's Spanish brand SEAT is still a way off.  Dierks says there is interest but at this stage there are no plans for its reintroduction into the Australian market.