Skoda India has brought the Skoda Octavia back to India in a bigger, more premium and more expensive package with prices starting at Rs. 13.95 lakh and going all the way up to Rs. 19.45 lakh for the top-end diesel automatic variant.
The car comes in a total of seven variants, with three engine choices with a choice of manual and automatic transmissions on the diesel variant and 1.8 litre petrol variant.


Prices and variants

Petrol models
Skoda Octavia Active 1.4 TSI: Rs. 13.95 lakh
Skoda Octavia Ambition 1.4 TSI: Rs. 14.95 lakh
Skoda Octavia Elegance 1.8 TSI AT: Rs. 18.25 lakh

Diesel models
Skoda Octavia Active 2.0 TDI: Rs. 15.55 lakh
Skoda Octavia Ambition 2.0 TDI: Rs. 16.55 lakh
Skoda Octavia Ambition 2.0 TDI AT: Rs. 17.55 lakh
Skoda Octavia Elegance 2.0 TDI AT: Rs. 19.45 lakh 

All-new design

The new Skoda Octavia is bigger than the previous model and significantly more premium in terms of features and space. It is also larger than the Laura, which incidentally will be discontinued now since the Skoda Octavia is here.
The car has grown in length and at 4,659 mm in length, it is one of the longest cars in its segment with plenty of interior space. It retains its huge 590 litre boot that is very versatile considering it’s a notchback and features foldable rear seats (increasing storage to 1,580 litres).
The exteriors get new headlamps (the top-end has bi-xenon lights) with daytime running lights, a new Skoda logo and grille. The car is instantly recognizable as a Skoda, although it’s built on Volkswagen’s MQB platform, because of the familiar design cues. The tail-lamps are typical C-in-C shaped Skoda lights.

New engine choices

The big change in the Skoda Octavia is in its choice of engines. The entry-level model gets a 1.4 litre (1395 cc) turbo-charged petrol engine that puts out 138 bhp of power at 4,500-6000 rpm and 250 Nm of torque at 1500-3500 rpm. It is mated to a six-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels. This car claims a mileage of 16.8 kmpl on petrol.
The top-end petrol variant gets a 1.8 litre (1798 cc) turbo-charged petrol engine with power increased to 178 bhp (180PS) at 5100-6200 rpm. It also has a wider torque band with 250 Nm of torque coming in at 1250-5000 rpm. It comes only with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with tiptronic manual shift driving the front wheels. It has a claimed mileage of 14.7 kmpl.
The diesel variant is powered by a 2-litre (1968 cc) common-rail diesel engine that puts out 140 bhp (143PS) of power at 4000 rpm and 320 Nm of torque at 1750-3000 rpm. It comes with a choice of either a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission driving the front wheels. This engine is a slightly tweaked version of the engine that powers the current Skoda Laura, Skoda Yeti and Skoda Superb.
Interestingly, the 1.8 litre automatic Skoda Octavia gets a different all-independent rear suspension, while the other variants all have a non-independent rear axle. All variants have disc brakes on all wheels and are shod with 205/55 R16 tyres.

Loaded with features

The top-end Elegance variants of the Skoda Octavia are loaded with features including a sunroof, headlamp washers, dual-zone climate control, cruise control full leather upholstery, LED daytime running lights, tyre-pressure sensors, front & rear parking sensors, touch-screen infotainment system, bi-xenon lights, eight airbags etc.
The mid-variant Ambition variant misses out on a few features such as the sun-roof, LED daytime lights, cornering function with fog lamps and cruise control. It only gets two airbags, as does the base Active variant. The mid-variant and top-end variant have traction control, electronic differential lock and stability control.

A new service promise

Skoda’s primary problem of late has been questions around its service standards. To address that Skoda is launching a full ownership package with the Octavia which includes road-side assistance, extended warranty and a maintenance package (at a cost). It has also opened online service booking and a bill assistance calculator.

What we think

The Skoda Octavia is now a more premium offering in a market that hasn’t been seeing much sales lately. The car offers a fair bit of equipment, but is still priced at a premium to the present segment leader which is the Hyundai Elantra. Of course, it may be bigger and more luxurious, but whether it will get the volumes Skoda wants is a question we’ll answer after a couple of months.