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Are you sure? Afaik The way VW works is the companies themselves compete against each other and all brands within the corp have pretty big autonomy. They do use

Are you sure? Afaik The way VW works is the companies themselves compete against each other and all brands within the corp have pretty big autonomy. They do use some of the same parts but they are designed and build in different places by different people. With EVs this might be unified even more but ICE VWs and Skodas feel quite differently. Just like you wouldnt say Audi or Porche is reskinned VW. If anything VW (not the corp, the car brand) is probably upset that Skoda is taking some of their customers since they make better cars than they should.

flohofwoe 3y ago
AFAIK the core parts (engine, drive train, ...) are taken from VW without modifications. Only the "human facing parts" (body, interior, ...) are different. But yes, the "sub-companies" are fairly autonomous. In East Germany especially, Skodas are quite popular because they offer great value for the money.
rvba 3y ago
I heard few times that the Skodas were too good and started cannibalizing VW sales, so the newer models were made worse.
lloeki 3y ago
Totally. e.g platform PL45 (B5) is shared across Audi A4/S4, VW Passat, and Skoda Superb. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_B_platform https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_B_platform SEAT is also in the mix. Seeing by them on the road it's quite obvious that most of these VW group cars within a segment are essentially the same with slightly different body panels, front grill, and head/taillights. They're not upset, it's part of the whole strategy: it's basically an image/brand thing + aiming at specific domestic and/or wallet-size market, like, typically Audi usually starts off introducing the new platforms along with with premium "finish" (bigger engines, leather interiors, suspension tuning, fancy lights or features, etc...), then as the production tool gets amortised the platform trickles down to other brands with "lesser" "finish". The "premium" brand gets some amount of protection by being the first to have new shiny stuff for a little while. It's a bit like Toyota GT86 vs Subaru BR-Z, only a notch further.

flohofwoe 3y ago

AFAIK the core parts (engine, drive train, ...) are taken from VW without modifications. Only the "human facing parts" (body, interior, ...) are different. But yes, the "sub-companies" are fairly autonomous. In East Germany especially, Skodas are quite popular because they offer great value for the money.

rvba 3y ago

I heard few times that the Skodas were too good and started cannibalizing VW sales, so the newer models were made worse.

lloeki 3y ago

Totally. e.g platform PL45 (B5) is shared across Audi A4/S4, VW Passat, and Skoda Superb. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_B_platform https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_B_platform SEAT is also in the mix. Seeing by them on the road it's quite obvious that most of these VW group cars within a segment are essentially the same with slightly different body panels, front grill, and head/taillights. They're not upset, it's part of the whole strategy: it's basically an image/brand thing + aiming at specific domestic and/or wallet-size market, like, typically Audi usually starts off introducing the new platforms along with with premium "finish" (bigger engines, leather interiors, suspension tuning, fancy lights or features, etc...), then as the production tool gets amortised the platform trickles down to other brands with "lesser" "finish". The "premium" brand gets some amount of protection by being the first to have new shiny stuff for a little while. It's a bit like Toyota GT86 vs Subaru BR-Z, only a notch further.