New gen Skoda Octavia sedan is due for India launch later this month – Only petrol option will be on offer
Skoda India is all set to launch the new gen Octavia sedan in India later this month. Ahead of that, the Czech car maker has announced the SOP – Start Of Production. Today, the first unit of new gen Octavia rolled out of the company plant located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. This is the same plant where cars from Audi and Volkswagen are also assembled.
Mr. Zac Hollis, Brand Director – SKODA AUTO India, said “The SKODA OCTAVIA has always offered a compelling combination of the brand’s emotive design, exquisite interiors, class leading safety, and intelligent connectivity features, and the all new iteration pushes the yardstick further.
A twenty year run, and about a hundred thousand satisfied customers, is a testament to its strong equity among discerning car buyers in a dynamically evolving automotive market like India. With the commencement of production, we also commit to a stronger product portfolio as we look to grow our presence in India.
In line with our laser sharp focus on customer centricity, we are also rapidly growing our network presence and have introduced several initiatives to ensure an unmatched ownership experience.”
New Octavia
The next gen Skoda Octavia has gained many changes over the outgoing model. It will be positioned on a reworked MQB platform making it 19mm longer and 15mm wider then its earlier counterpart. It also receives new headlamp layout, with LED head and tail lamps and DRLs along with LED fog lamps while it will sit on new 17 inch Rotare Aero alloy wheels. The India spec Octavia is likely to gain added ground clearance to take on road conditions in the country.
Skoda Octavia reworked interiors
The interiors of the next gen Octavia could get a dual tone colour scheme in black and beige. It will see added interior space as compared to its earlier model while onboard technology will also be augmented.
The new Octavia will get a 10.25 inch virtual cockpit digital instrument cluster, a 10 inch free standing touchscreen infotainment system and a digital assistant called ‘Laura’. Other interior updates will include a head up display, connected car technology with eSIM and wireless phone charging system.
Skoda Octavia Engine
Internationally, the next gen Skoda Octavia engine lineup ranges from 1.0 to 2.0 liter engines with fuel options of
petrol, petrol-CNG, petrol-electric mild-hybrid, petrol-electric plug-in hybrid and diesel. The 1.0 liter TSI petrol engine will offer 110 hp power and 200 Nm torque. The 1.5 liter TSI will make 150 hp power and 250 Nm torque.
The 2.0 liter petrol engine will be capable of 190 hp power and 320 Nm torque while the 2.0 liter TDI engines will make upto 200 hp power and 400 Nm torque. India-spec Octavia is likely to be offered with single engine option of 2 liter petrol mated to a DSG gearbox.
Skoda Octavia competitors in India
Estimated to be priced between Rs.20-25 lakhs, the new gen Skoda Octavia will compete with the Hyundai Elantra. Its earlier model also had the Toyota Corolla Altis as its competitor but that is not the case with the new gen model as the Altis is no longer on sale in the country.
