Skoda doesn't have any problems making decent cars anymore, which in itself might pose a problem.
With the pick of the VW parts bin, a loyal fan base and incredible value for money, the main concern over at Substation Volkswagen could be how not to steal sales from cars like the Polo, Golf, Passat, Audi A3 and A4.
If Skodas last as long, drive almost identically and use the same engines as these "rivals", who wouldn't want to save money to boot? Of course, the fact it is a Skoda is enough to put a lot of people off, but another issue must be the way all these cars look.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing particularly wrong with the styling of Skodas, but given the handsome, if a little bland, lines or most VW/Audi products why do they always look slightly awkward?
Read the Octavia 1.4 TSI first drive
It is almost as if someone at VW is kicking the table as the Skoda designers put the finishing touches to their designs. Perhaps there is a touch of planned ugliness that has been mapped out in a boardroom somewhere and engineered in?
The new Octavia looks alright, but from some angles it is gawky, the headlights making it look a little top heavy. The Fabia, too, has been given a funky Mini-esque roof but looks under-wheeled and ungainly. The Suberb is a huge car, and excellent value, but it looks a little slab-sided.
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re: Is Skoda pulling its punches?
I seem to remember a story that when the Czech engineers got hold of the Golf platform, they apparently liberated another inch of rear legroom, which didn't go down to well in Wolfsburg.
As for the story that the Germans erm, borrowed the layout for the Beetle from a Skoda prototype, well, we won't go there...
Incidentally, all mt friends think my Mk1 vRS Octavia much better looking that the later itinerations, so QED!
re: Is Skoda pulling its punches?
Skoda styling is now firmly in reverse, the original Fabia hatch was a superb piece of design, attractive, elegant and different enough to always attract attention. The current Fabia has lost all the subtlety, slab sided, square edged windows and fussy nose and the ill judged proportions of the estate are very communist bloc. The Octavia has always been an overbodied Golf and the current Superb is just a visual disaster, how can VAG design bigwigs have let this through?
However the Yeti looks better balanced , maybe the corner has been turned
re: Is Skoda pulling its punches?
For the majority of customers this will matter little. If the less than perfect looks mean that VW will keep the Skoda brand in its current market position (value but not cheap), then I say leave them alone. There are far more offensive cars for sale out there.