Skoda working on resale value concerns, perceived and genuine
Skoda says it's actively working on improving its perceived and actual resale value to offer buyers greater confidence in choosing the Czech brand over more established Japanese and European rivals.
Speaking to CarAdvice at the launch of the Octavia RS230 in Sydney yesterday (review), the head of Skoda Australia, Michael Irmer, said that the perception that Skoda has poor resale isn’t reflective in reality these days.
“First of all, we can see it shifting and changing. We have put in a number of measures to bring that [resale value] up,” Irmer said.
“For instance, when you run promotions you will see no cash promotions on our side, no cash discount. What you see is value-add: you get this on top, you get service on top, you get accessories on top. Every brand runs promotion, we also [do], but our offers are about value-added promotions and it protects the future value of the car.”
Skoda has also pulled out of the rental car market for the time being in order to further protect its models' resale value.
“We also limit the number of cars going through rental fleets, the fast churning channels, they also have a negative impact, we haven’t done any for the last three years just to get going… we will probably do some rentals in the future but probably very, very little.”
Models like the Skoda Fabia are actually holding their value rather well against the likes of the Volkswagen Polo, with which it shares its underpinnings.
“In other markets, Skoda is already benchmarked when it comes to residuals, it's really strong and we will, over time, develop it [here] further.”
One of the other ways Skoda is helping reassure potential buyers of future values is by offering a guaranteed buyback scheme, which can even be tied into an extended five-year warranty for a package saving.
The brand currently has 35 dealers across Australia, with additional service outlets provided by Volkswagen and Audi across Australia.
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