Skoda going DOWNMARKET and SEAT going UPMARKET as VW looks to realign group offerings

The Volkswagen Group is looking to realign its brands to create more differentiation, and are planning to push SEAT upmarket and move Skoda down according to a recent report.

We’ve had a moan before about Jaguar Land Rover’s model overlap cannibalising sales from one model to another instead of eating up the competition. But at Volkswagen, particularly the mainstream brands, the overlap is much bigger and the scale on another level.

You can decide what size VW Group mainstream car you want and then decide which badge, and price point, suits you best and go off and buy it, and be fairly sure the Volkswagen model is going to be the more expensive. Well, if you consider just VW, SEAT and Skoda as mainstream, and not Audi.

But it looks like VW are planning to change that, and are looking to realign the Skoda and SEAT brands to give them a more identifiable place in the VW group, according to a report from Automotive News Europe.

Speaking to VW Group’s product strategy boss Michael Jost, he said SEAT would deliver more inspirational cars, already on show with the new Cupra ‘Brand’ and becoming almost a Spanish Alfa Romeo, but without the problems, and Skoda would aim to move in to East European markets where Dacia and Hyundai/Kia have eaten it to VW Group’s market share.

Not only that, but VW would make sure its lineup doesn’t step on the toes of its other brands and look to avoid overlaps in the range too.

In many ways we can see the logic; after all, Skoda was certainly a budget brand until VW took it on, but it’s come so far since it would seem odd to push it downmarket when it’s finally lost its ‘Skoda Skip’ tag. As for SEAT, if you can’t buy Alfa Romeo, then why not make your own?