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| Skoda Laura - Right foot appeal |
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| Forget the name. The future is here and it is called the Skoda Laura |
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By : Bijoy Kumar Y | Published : February 14, 2006 | Photos : Pablo Chaterji |
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Here’s a bet. A diesel-powered car is going to win the legendary 24 hours race at Le Mans this year. If you think I am having a bad day at work, please read about the revolutionary Audi R10 elsewhere in this issue and you will start placing bets yourself. Now let me exceed the envelope and tell you something more – soon, the world will get a Lamborghini SUV powered by a diesel engine that will exchange blows with the likes of the Porsche Cayenne. Time to tear you apart – soon, it is possible that a scarlet Ferrari will roll into the wrong side of a fuel station and queue up behind a row of trucks.
A diesel Ferrari? No, the editor of your favourite motoring magazine does not have a liking for hate mail from tifosi. Instead he thinks he has got an inkling of tomorrow’s performance technology. Enough. I am fresh from a blast in the Skoda Laura, which essentially is the new generation Octavia which Skoda India had to rename since the older model is still doing well in the Indian market. Spending time and energy trying to analyse whether it was a good marketing/ branding move or not is not of much use – the deed has been done, and a thousand Laura jokes are choking up inboxes of Indians around the world. A rather sensuous act involving two girls in the Skoda communication hasn’t helped matters either. But take it from me – a brilliant product will rise above unremarkable communication, insane pricing strategies and even the lousiest of names. And the Laura is a brilliant product.
Let me take you straight to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on a cold January morning. The Laura was piercing mild fog at 150 kph when I decided to floor the pedal. The turbulence outside was now audible and the 205/55 rubber worn on 16 inch rims was sending a thrum through the seat of my pants. Soon the car was doing an indicated 190 kph. The sight would have been awesome from outside the car – shafts of light piercing the fog and a metallic silver bullet of a car travelling at appropriate velocities. Wow. But to me, there was no surprise element here. That bit was done and kept aside when I first floored the Laura at a traffic signal light.
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