The headlines make no sense… unless you know about Skoda’s current product offering. Indeed the headlines probably make no sense if you hail from America. America… the land of the free? Anyway, the Skoda Octavia is in the next phase of an all-new generation reboot, it’s like a Mission Impossible movie starring Robbie Williams in place of Tom Cruise. However, the new Octavia is no mission impossible it is more… mission completed for the 4th generation.
The new Octavia is based on Volkswagen’s MBQ platform, a platform that is adaptable enough to make a range of cars from superminis to large SUVs. And the new Octavia really is new inside and out, although it clearly shares styling and design language cues with its bigger brother, the Skoda Superb.
The Octavia is Skoda’s best selling vehicle, the compact car has grown not only in the maturity of its all-new design language but also in size. But the differences in size between the 3rd and 4th generation Octavia is measured in less than 5cm in length and width.
The minimalist interior design makes the larger Superb look cluttered by comparison. It’s infotainment screen, heating controls, gear selector. The automatic gear lever is now shift-by-wire, so a big gear stick is not necessary, doing so frees up a lot of room. It even has ambient lighting… in an Octavia.
Clearly, Skoda wants to go more upmarket with it’s smaller cars. As with all modern cars a digital instrument binnacle is now offered as an option. But really digital instrument binnacles should be standard in 2019.
The all-new 4th generation Octavia will borrow it’s engine and DSG transmissions from VW. So you will get the usual entry-level petrol and diesel models starting with the 1.4-TSi up to the 1987bhp 2.0-litre TSI. The diesel engine line up will include the 1.6-litre TDi and the 2.0-litre TDi with the usual power variants ranging from 116bhp to 197 respectively.
The engine lineup hasn’t really changed that much, although efficiency is slightly improved. However, the Octavia will be powered by a Plugin Hybrid powerplant for the first time. The Octavia PHEV combine a 1.4-litre TSI and an electric motor.
Total system power is 201 bhp which will be fed to all four wheels by a 6-speed DSG transmission. The Octavia PHEV has a claimed range of 34 miles on pure electric power.
Oddly the Octavia estate variant will go on sale first with the hatchback/saloon/liftback following a few weeks later. Pricing has yet to be confirmed.
