Comments on: VW Bora V’s VW Lavida - Just what the heck is different?

By: Ash

Ash — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:18:42 +0000

Im going to make a diagram soon showing VW’s line up and family tree.

I reckon it to be at least 2000 pixels wide.

By: Gerald

Gerald — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:04:08 +0000

Sagitar is a lot more expensive, unless you’re looking at the anemic 1.6L.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:02:59 +0000

So where does the Sagitar the Chinese re-named Mk V Jetta / Bora fit in? a far better car then the New Chinese Bora.

By: Ash

Ash — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:29:53 +0000

Lavida was launched today - 110k to 140k

So, very cheap, on part with the Octavia.

VW China is a very odd entity. Perhaps if they flood the market with similar vehicles, they’ll improve their sales?

By: Gerald

Gerald — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:10:45 +0000

I’d rather get the Skoda Octavia - 1.8TSI, 6-speed manual, and very reasonably priced. And yes, it sits on the PQ35 platform.

By: Ash

Ash — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:23:05 +0000

I saw a Lavida on the road a few days back.

It really is a handsome car, much nicer than the current Passat, and the Magotan.

By: jackson liu

jackson liu — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:19:07 +0000

man…

the lavida rides in the same plataform as this Bora (PQ34)

it is NOT PQ35

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:27:16 +0000

Caroline — all good points! I’ll have to agree with Ash that VW is in danger of overloading the market for small sedans, even though we’re talking about several different corporate partnerships. BTW, which transmission did you drive with? The six-speed transmission in my Leon’s been flawless so far . . .

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:57:11 +0000

Furthermore Ash, the Buick Excelle is not based on the Chevrolet Epica but on the Chevrolet Nubira, the smaller sedan.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:41:17 +0000

Well, Brian and Ash you’re not precised enough…
Ash, the Bora you show on the main picture of your article is not the New Bora but the current facelifted Bora. The New Bora is the blue car you show further down your article
Brian, I never drove a Leon I, but having driven a Leon II last summer in Ibiza, I can tell you that its gearbox is far more dangerous than revolutionary ! They’re enough deaths from car accidents in China for that kind of threat to be added !
I agree with you that the SAIC Lavida shows ressemblance with the old Octavia, like it would be an ugly and maladroit looking sedan version of it. Indians are far more lucky than Chinese since they can benefit from the two generations of the Skoda Octavia (the current one being sold as Laura). Hopefully the Chinese can rejoy since they can drive the Skoda Superb I, even if it sold there as the Passat Lingyu.
However neither the Lavida nor the New Bora look like the US and European current Jetta. This one is sold in China as the FAW-VW Sagitar since FAW-VW still sell the Jetta II (overly facelifted lol). Finally the facelifted Bora wrongly shown by Ash on the main picture of its article may be a reskin (actually it dates back 2006) but the New Bora is not a reskin at all. It is just quite a dull new Volkswagen sedan with a Tiguanish front face and worse : a Nissan Tiida sedan’s profile…

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:03:32 +0000

Funny story, when the Vento seems to have succeeded to the Bora in Latin America, in Europe it is quite the contrary since we had the Jetta I (Golf I), the Jetta II (Golf II), the Vento (Golf III), the Bora (Golf IV), then again the Jetta (III?!) (Golf V).
Anglophones found that Bora sound like “boring cars” when Romanophones found that Jetta sound like ” voitures jettables” !

As for the 206 and 207 the different in size is quite obvious and they’re sold simultaneously in various European countries as are the Clio II (now Campus) and Clio III. The older versions are popular among students.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:46:35 +0000

Well, Patrick, actually you’re wrong since the Logan is sold in France under the Dacia brand. Precisely not to damage the still awaited “Renault new identity”. But some costumers were so annoyed with that middle-age herald that Dacia “designers” have decided to modernize the logo. And the new one will be as different to the previous one as the yearly change of logo assumed by any kind of Chinese automaker.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:26:03 +0000

Great article. This is the first time the platform question in terms of the Chinese New Bora versus the Lavida has REALLY been answered. I used to drive the Seat Leon I, which is PQ34-based. I now drive a Leon II, which is PQ35-derived. The difference, handling-wise between the PQ34, with its ridged axle, and the PQ35, with the “live” axle, is revolutionary. The newer platform also addresses many noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) issues. The Lavida appears to be a close cousin of the European Skoda Octavia and the US-market VW Jetta, which places it more up-market than the New Bora. The New Bora is just an attractive re-skin. The two vehicles won’t compete with one another in the marketplace.

By: jorge felipe

jorge felipe — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:15:44 +0000

Here in Chile, is very common that things like this happen.

VW for instance, started selling the Bora in 1999 or 2000. Since then, it body have been updated a couple of times and now it’s manufactured in Brazil. Last year VW have introduced the Vento, which in europe replaced the Bora a couple of years ago, meaning that VW is selling 2 different generations of the same car at the same time in the same market. Audi and the A3 were doing exactly the same move during last year(building the previous one in brazil and selling it cheaper than the German newer gen).

The same thing happened with the Corsa some years ago, but people remained buying the old version (Corsa “B”, which is still being sold nowadays) while the Corsa “C” was retired from the market. Peugeot, at the end of 2007 introduced the 207, the natural replacement of the 206, but the’ve not retired the 206 from the market and both are being sold simultaneously. Same thing with the 307/308.

Now, a common factor in all this cases, is that all the previous gen models are now made in Latin America (Peugeot makes them in Argentina, while VW and Chevrolet also does them in Brazil) and the new ones, are being imported from Europe, which leads to higher prices.

By: Patrick Malseed

Patrick Malseed — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Sorry Moldova your are not fully aware of the facts. Dacia Logan and Renault Logan are one and the same vehicle. Just different badges! Same platform, same mechanicals. The Dacia name is not as strong a name as Renault in some European markets. Try selling a Dacia Logan in France and you will get a very big “Non”.

By: Moldova Online TV

Moldova Online TV — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:02:16 +0000

The similarity between VW Bora and VW Lavida can be compared with Dacia Logan and Renault Logan.