Skoda Laura at Rs 11 lakh: More trouble for Honda Civic

Skoda has cut the Laura 1.8L TSI Classic price by a massive Rs 1,44,000, with the previous price of Rs. 12.44 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Here’s why the Laura could become a serious threat to others, the Honda Civic in particular.

The Skoda Laura TSI Classic is now available at Rs 10.99 lakh. There is no discounts on diesel variants though, which is understandable considering buyers are finding petrol cars more expensive in terms of total cost of ownership.

With this price, life could get tougher for Honda Civic. Both cars target enthusiastic drivers, with Laura packing serious punch with its 160 Bhp engine (Civic has 132 Bhp). On torque, Laura beats Civic by 250 Nm to latter’s 172 Nm. Both cars are evenly matched on features, with Cruise Control giving slight edge to Civic.

But that’s all that you get extra for a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh more that you would be paying for Civic. Read more about how the Laura stacks up against its competition here.

Overall, both are great cars to drive but Laura rides a lot better. In fact, it has the best balance between ride and handling amongst Corolla Altis and Civic. Altis rides very well but handles poorly. Yet, it’s unlikely to hurt Corolla as it has an extremely frugal diesel that Civic lacks.

So it’s Civic that Laura has in its sights.

Besides, we have heard—from a CarToq member —that there is 1.25 lakh discount on Laura 1.8 Ambiente which costs Rs 13.5 lakh. If true, then even the Ambiente will cost less than Civic. And the Ambiente is one seriously loaded car with tons of features and the same powerful engine mated to a lovely six-speed manual gearbox.

It would be interesting to see how long Honda holds on to Civic’s pricing—it has slashed prices for the Jazz and City recently.

Our conclusion: If Honda has to keep Civic in play, it has to come out with a price reduction. What do you think?