Skoda is on a roll with the Octavia. It just celebrated the 6 millionth unit, but a replacement is quite a way off. Despite the current generation debuting at roughly the same time as the Golf 7, but the Octavia 4 won't arrive until 2021.
A video report from the Germans at Auto Bild claims the reveal is scheduled for 2020 with sales starting the following year. Of course, it will ride on a substantially revised MQB platform, but that's about where the similarities end.
The Octavia is a crucial car for the entire VW Group after the Chinese market fell in love with affordable space and a Czech badge.
The car will be even longer, and the wagon is said to offer between 610 and 630 liters of trunk space. That's roughly on par with the current Superb. The overall length will grow to past 4.7 meters thanks to an extended wheelbase.
A new design is something everybody is eager to see after the controversial facelift. Skoda's design chief, the Slovakian Jozef Kaban has left and joined BMW. The German magazine believes a keener look will include sharp Matrix-style LED headlights and plenty of upmarket chrome trim. More complex surfaces will also be stamped into the metal.
The 4th generation of the Octavia will benefit from the all-new tech being developed for the next Golf, expected in 2019. That includes semi-autonomous tech being available, as well as different sized screen formats and extended speech control.
VW's BlueMotion models go hand in hand with Skoda's GreenLine. So the frugal Octavia might drop the 1.6-liter TDI in favor of a 1.5 TSI with 130 PS and a mild hybrid setup offering energy regeneration.
That doesn't sound very exciting, but we've learned of other new engines. For example, the 2.0 TDI units will jump from 150 and 184 to 163 to 190 PS, respectively. The 1.8 TSI will also be replaced by a 2.0 TSI making 200 PS and 340 Nm, which sounds a lot like the Polo GTI engine.
Pricing will reflect this new level of sophistication, as the Octavia should be around €5,000 cheaper than the equivalent Superb.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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