Skoda Sees US Market As Top Choice For Expansion

VW and Skoda could very well be the next Hyundai/Kia i.e. the "same" cars with differentiated styling and both selling well.

The trick to launching Skoda is figuring out where to retail it. Putting Skoda in VW stores would be redundant.

Making Skoda a stand-alone dealer is too much of a risk to invest in.

Putting Skoda into the challenged-for-product dealerships of Chrysler or Mitsubishi makes better sense, but no matter what, VW will have to change its ways on how it relates to customers.

I'll bet that if VWAG let VWOA make Skoda happen, good things could happen.

nice to see another player in the market. more choices = more competition = better for consumers

I say that VW is up to something big.

I think moving downmarket is probably wise. The lower class needs cars too, and they are a growing segment of the economy. VW is too expensive for this demographic. SKODA is unknown to most US consumers as a brand and doesn't have the baggage of "Russian cheap trash" associated with it. (I know it's Czek)

The problem is that the buying public sees VW as an entry-level/downmarket brand like Toyota or Ford or Hyundai. If VW is going to go premium, VW sales will further implode and at best steal sales from Audi where any successes occur.

Skoda as a separate brand not sold in VW dealers is the way to go and then do the Hyundai/Kia game i.e. same car with different hats.