Volkswagen considering new budget brand

By Alborz Fallah
October 12th, 2012

FIND DEALS

If you thought that owning and operating Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Ducati, Man, Scania and Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicles was enough, you’d be wrong.

The Volkswagen Group is rumoured to be looking at launching yet another brand, this one specifically geared as a no-frills manufacturer for developing nations and parts of Europe. Essentially, Volkswagen is looking to take on budget Romanian manufacturer Dacia, which is owned by the Renault-Nissan alliance.

A report by German trade magazine Auto Bild confirms the move but the Wolfsburg-based company has so far insisted that no firm decision has been made.

According to the report, the new brand will launch in 2015 with three models priced between 6000-8000 euros ($7600-$10,000), and will find its biggest market in countries such as Russia, India, Brazil and China.

Production of the cars is likely to take place in either China or India, which means the brand may one day have a chance of an Australian entry, particularly if Renault decides to pull the trigger and introduce Dacia down under, as recently suggested.

There’s potential for Volkswagen to use the platform of the yet-to-be-revealed successor to the Chinese-made, front-wheel drive Santana as a stating point for its budget brand.

The entry-level Volkswagen Up! city car launched locally last month, giving the German brand a player in Australia’s cheapest vehicle segment with a starting price of $13,990.

Sponsored Ads

Monk

Finally – a VW where you get value for money
- Barry on the tray top .
  
  Wont be coming here , chinaa nd india , probably targeting daewoo clients .
  - Phil
    
    Yeah, VW and Skoda are enough to target Daewoo clients in our market already. No need to cannibalise their own assault on Daewoo by introducing another brand.
  - Garrywhopper
    
    Yeah it has been confirmed they are for Australia
    - Kane
      
      Oh wow. First we have a Legnab imposter and now a Garrywhopper imposter? How much time do the people on this site have on their hands?
      - Phil
        
        My names Phil, durh durhhh, durhhh
      - Phil
        
        Alert the media!!!
      - Phil
        
        I’m furious, furious Phil
    - Sumpguard
      
      When someone’s VW drops a DSG they can swap the badges!
  - Zaccy16
    
    yeah probably, i wonder if they would share engine and tranny tech, maybe older versions of the tsi/tdi
- Schah7
  
  I wish VW would buy/link with FORD [like Fiat/Chrysler] solely to add excitement & reason & tech. to FoMoCo.!
  - Sydlocal
    
    I don’t know, the Focus ST seems to do quite well for itself!
    - Schah7
      
      Good point Sydlocal more thinking along the lines on of a Ford version of a Viper/Corvette type sports car from the States, & a RWD v8/v12 Lincoln.
      RWD Ford for that matter.
  - trololololol
    
    Well the lead engineer of the RS motorsport team (the guys who developed the previous focus RS) Is now working for the R devision of VW so…..yeah….i dont know why im typing this really lol
Aus_poppa

The big question will be whether the cars might come from China. Many European carmakers produce simpler cars or versions of ther mainstram models which are produced in and for China. The first of these models, from Peugeot, will arrive here next year, the 408 a booted version of the Peugeot 308. There are also equivalent Citroen models and cars from VW itself. They will be easy to slot into a niche in our market because almost without exception they are notchback versions of cars sold here as hatches.

The factor which might mitigate against these cars is that demand in Europe is declining and production is being cut, which means that the australian distributors will find it easier to slot Oz spec RHD cars into the production cycle, probably at sales at all cost prices.
nugsdad

I thought it already was a budget brand —– just with high prices in Australia !!
Gtroxu1

We have got used to the premium priced cheap cars from trhe vag group.now a cheap veedud priced cheaply.
Luke Brinsmead

It didn’t work that well with Daihatsu for Toyota, I don’t think it will work for Volkswagen.
- yay
  
  i remember seat was not that uncommon about 10 years ago in sydney, and they looked relatively all right at the time too, but they gave up before i saved enough money
- trololololol
  
  Uh you do know Daihatsu pre-dates Toyota as a car company by around 30 years? (1907 vs 1937) They where an inpedendant company long before toyota even existed. Which makes your comment kind of weird….
  - Luke Brinsmead
    
    Point taken, I thought Toyota created Daihatsu as a budget brand, but I was wrong. Scion is Toyota’s budget brand in the states, but hasn’t come to Australia.
    - Huwtm
      
      Actually you were sort of right. Toyota purchased Daihatsu. that company being used to supply the lower end of the market below Toyota.
    - trololololol
      
      Whats this? Common sense on the internet??? No tantrum throwing? Awesome! You sir are a gentleman and a scholar!
      - Luke Brinsmead
        
        Thanks mate!
  - Doctor
    
    Yeah, and it took Toyota nearly 10 years to sell its first 130 cars!
Shak

Then whats the point of Skoda? I know they may be semi-premium in the Australian market, because of the fact that they are European, but elsewhere i thought they held the budget tag for VW?
- Mike
  
  The costs of production in Czech republic and Slovakia are rising, and Skoda is being undercut by Dacia. Skoda will take on Hyundai and Kia, who are now selling complete, competitive cars at bargain prices and produce in the same places as Skoda does.
  - Shak
    
    Then why not just try and lower production costs by shifting some Skoda production to China, where this new brand will be made. It costs a lot more money to set up a new brand, than to just lower the costs of an existing one.
    - Mike
      
      Fair question. One can only speculate. Skoda has acquired a reputation for quality and reliability, which is something that cannot be said about all other brands in the VW empire – maybe they do not want to jeopardize that by lowering costs and standards.
- Huwtm
  
  All the companies are looking for ways to get VERY cheap cars into Eastern Europe. On Drive it, the German acr review show on TVS they reviewed a booted Astra, made specifically for Russia and it’s satellite states. Very strong criticism of the Diesel in it which sounded like it came from a truck – a very old truck. These are cars built down to a price for a less discerning market, with less dollars to spend. Funny that we may get some of them here from VW and others. Safety should be something we ask about too.
  - Bunga
    
    It is not only about Eastern European markets, but about the assault of cheap models made by Dacia in Romania and by Renault in Turkey. These have become the cars that people who used to shop in second hand market a couple years ago consider as their first choice in Western Europe today. With Dacia making significant foothold even in Germany, VW simply needs to find its answer to it.
JHP

a budget version of volkswagen? how low can it possibly get?
volkswagen= people’s car
let me guess? budget version would be called scumwagen?
Gtroxu1

The reason I drive a flat top is to haul off my own golf to the service centre.
- trololololol
  
  Ha ha ha……
  - Golfmother
    
    Ha ha ha
Martin

What is the point of difference between Skoda and VW in Australia? The competing models are priced close to each other and share switchgear, engines etc so why do they have both brands?
- al
  
  Good question. Too many stupid people buying them I guess. I would buy a Skoda or a Seat in Australia but only if significantly cheaper than VW. A friend in Europe told me he buys Seat spare parts for his VW. Identical to VW part but much cheaper.
- Zaccy16
  
  because vw still consider them selves as a ‘premium brand’ and skoda more mainstream
  - Bill
    
    But VW is more mainstream than Skoda, in terms of sales.
    - Zaccy16
      
      yeah correct, it should be the other way round really but vw’s are more reliable
- 5reasonreviews.com
  
  A big point of difference is where they are made. Many of the VWs we get are not made in the same factories as the versions they get in Europe. Skoda’s are generally all made in the same factory
  
  I do note though that I think you are correct that Skoda pricing is too high in Australia. And although they may share many components the interiors of two similar cars can still vary quite significantly
al

I know someone who bought a Dacia in Switzerland years ago. She said, it was the best decision she ever made. It was so cheap brand new, she expected to wreck it after five years and would have been happy with that, but it was still going strong after five years.
Doctor

Perhaps VW will make a bid for Opel when GM finally gets the message!
- Golfmother
  
  Big tip is they are going to wed peugeot and give the bride opel as a wedding present , thats the end of the french passion .
  
  GM is desperate to pump up the share price and rid themselves of the US govt shareholding , so dumping opel is a priority number one as it is bleeding so much money .
  
  I hope the US govt hangs onto its shares and maximises its return on investment , man GM owes the tax payer heaps , bit like OZ , they must be casting an eye over this little outpost thats going no where fast .
  - Huwtm
    
    Interesting fact, unlike GM, Ford didn’t beg and borrow from Governments to stay afloat. It sold off a lot of it’s holding to weather the storm. Which I guess is why they have the product they do at the moment.
    
    Both GM and Ford are ultra capitalist but GM chose to get in bed with countries around the world. If Gillard had been smart she would have insisted on a controlling interest for the Government in Holden rather than just hand over money.
    
    At least then they could be getting a return on the dollar. Same sort of deal that should be happening with mines. Holden would go back to being an Australian car, and not a rebadged widened Opel, or a US designed car, built here as a Commodore.
    
    Pipe dream I know but what the hell.
    - Golfmother
      
      Very true , ford may have been smart selling off the prestige brands to survive , but look at them all fly now espsecially jaguar/land rover .
      
      GM had also ran saab and opel , nothing to sell but problems .
      - Huwtm
        
        Guess so, trouble with Ford selling those companies, the designs coming out now that tre doing so well are theirs. I guess if they had gone the GM rout they would be flying right now.
        
        But Ultra capitalism doesn’t always work. Look at America.
    - moonie
      
      Ford borrowed $600 million from the US government. They just didn’t swap debt for equity. And they are not exactly doing that well, outside of North America.
      
      The Commodore is not related at all to the Insignia/Malibu.
      - Huwtm
        
        If they borrowed 600 million – I stand corrected, but a drop in the bucket by comparison to GM,
        
        In regards to the Insignia and Malibu I wasn’t referring to them. I stated that the design of the current Commodore, unlike it predecessors which were Opel based, Is actually, despite the propaganda, an American design. Referencing if I’m not, mistaken, the G6.
Unidexter Hopping

Great at least the hard plastics will go with the poor reliability to make for an honest product. A modern VW is a slush moulded, door thunking up market feeling sub par reliable offering.
- cheffa
  
  I’ve had my B6 Passat for 5 years now, 120,000 km’s on the clock, ZERO grief. It isn’t falling apart, it isn’t rattling, it isn’t breaking down. It’s a great car, and I’ve just added an Up! to the garage as well. I’m not a salesman either, just somebody who cooks food for a living.
  - Zaccy16
    
    Do you like your up? did you get any option packages? im thinking of buying a black 5 door with the comfort pack and maps and more
    - cheffa
      
      My Up is still on a ship somewhere on the ocean. The test drive sold it. Amazing amount of car for the money. I ordered a 5 door with sunroof, comfort pack, style pack and various bits of chrome trim. The ride quality is impressive, and that little 1 litre engine delivers surprising punch and sonic rumble in spades!
      - Zaccy16
        
        sounds good! i think you might have sold me, going for a test drive next week
      - Huwtm
        
        I bet there’s a few dollars tide up in that. We all fall in love with certain cars but, that must push the price into another bracket.
- Golfmother
  
  Maybe GM can start up a sub brand under chevrolet for the emerging eastern markets , i know the could call it DAEWOO , then again they already sell them .
  - Captain Nemo®™
    
    Ahhh Bungle yet another new username Golfmother huh.
    Meh not bad, but it’s a bit pathetic liking your own comments of your old name “Barry on the tray top”
    - Golfmother
      
      Took the big brains here a few days to pick that one up, garry floppy can use legnab permanently .
      - Phil
        
        I knew it was you from the first comment you posted. I just didn’t think you were of any import to merit a comment.
Tex

Looks like the French brand (run by a Brazilian CEO) have out smarted the Germans.

Renault-Nissan alliance owns Dacia, Europe’s fastest growing brand since 2004. And since earlier this year they own 51.01% in AvtoVAZ (owners of Lada) that produce 1,000,000 cars a year.
moonie

Well VW own Trabant, Yugo, FSO and KAZ…..
Tex

Trabant doesn’t exist any longer.
Yugo is Fiat owned.
UkrAVTO owns FSO and ZAZ – they manufacture cars for other brands, but none of those VW.
KAZ?

Car Advice

Volkswagen considering new budget brand

Sponsored Ads

Advanced Options