The new Skoda Octavia can compete with luxury brands

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The new Skoda Octavia can compete with luxury brands

We visited the Czech National Gallery in Prague to witness the world premiere of the new Skoda Octavia. It is as impressive as the venue itself.

 

The site is the National Gallery in Prague. 700 guests from all over the world have been invited and the occasion: the debut of the fourth generation Skoda Octavia. The model is the golden hen for Skoda in its 60-year history. And Skoda is the golden hen in the Czech economy, accounting for 10% of the country's GDP annually, a fact that was also respected by Prime Minister Andrei Babis.

In front of a huge hall, Skoda CEO Bernhard Mayer has allayed my fears that the brand may be taking a different path from the one it is currently moving to: a total of 30 new models, modifications will be presented by 2022. , facelifts and derivatives of existing models. And with another production capacity, in the next decade, the brand can produce 2 million cars a year.

This is just an overture to the nail of the evening. Under the sounds of the Czech Philharmonic and a solo rendition of Opus Octavia's violin, composed especially for the event by Jesse Miliner, the fourth generation of Octavia takes the stage.

To continue the success story of its predecessors, which totaled over 6.5 million in sales, the new model has undergone a complete change. Outside, the design is evolutionary and expectedly eliminates discussion lights that have only remained on the market for three years. Now they are LED (optional also available in matrix), and the grid is an interpretation of what is already known by Scala. The stops were also scaled by Scala, but the real, cardinal and super surprising changes were made to the interior.

The day after the debut on November 11th, I took a ride on the current Octavia and I have to assure you that the two have nothing in common. The new generation can now easily compete with the models in the upper segment in size and interior design - with luxury brands.

As expected, the length (+19 mm) and width (+15 mm) have increased (with an identical wheelbase of 2866 mm), thus creating additional space in the foot area (+78 mm) for the occupants of the second row of seats. The boot is increased by 10 liters to 600 liters, and the combo is 30 liters larger (640 liters).

But the interior design itself made me astonished. I can safely say that with it Skoda jumps one step up and can now compete with much more luxurious and expensive brands. The enhanced virtual cockpit comes with a 10.25-inch display and four different views. Octavia is the first model of the brand with Head-up display and Trizon climate control. The debut of the model also makes nine new driver assistance systems. The latest generation of infotainment system debuts with a 10-inch display. The configuration of the entire dashboard is brand new, modeler, luxurious. The materials are very pleasant to touch, and the inner door handles, which extend in metal slats along the door, are a work of art.

The motor range is too rich. The base is a 1.0-liter gasoline with 110 hp, followed by a 1.5-liter with 150 hp. and a 2.0-liter with 190hp. (with 4x4 and 7 speed DSG transmission). The diesels will be 2.0 liters and 116, 150 and 200 hp. Each version will be available with automatic transmission, with 150 and 200 hp versions. can with 4x4. There is also a 130hp methane variant.

There are two soft hybrid versions (1.0 TSI EVO e-TEC and 1.5 TSI EVO e-TEC), but far more interesting is the first plug-in hybrid. The Octavia iV relies on a 1.4-liter TSI gasoline engine with 150 hp and system output at 204 hp. and 350 Nm. The model will be able to travel up to 55 km over the WLTP cycle. The transmission is 6-speed automatic.