The Octavia was the car which spearheaded Skoda’s growth in India. It sold in huge numbers and made sure that the competition was always on its toes. So strong was the Octavia brand that when the next generation of the Octavia was launched worldwide, in India it was positioned a notch above and called the Laura. The Octavia kept selling as before. But now the dwindling sales fi gures show it is time for a revamp. Looking at its high brand value, Skoda is now preparing a new sedan which will serve as the replacement of the Octavia and will be sold in emerging markets like India. The all new car will slot in between the Fabia and the Laura, and is expected to be called Felicia in markets where the Laura is sold as the Octavia.
The new sedan will be based on the Fabia and Polo platform but will sport a lot of modifications to comply with the requirements of a sedan. The car will sport a longer wheelbase than the Fabia and will also be marginally wider than the hatchback it is going to be based on. While inside the new Skoda might carry a lot of components over from the Fabia, including the instrument panel, switches and seats, it is sure to add new upholstery and colours.
Externally though Skoda’s new sedan will be a completely new design, which will conform with the modern Skoda look. The standard Skoda grille with the logo will take centre stage up front and certain design elements like the central bulge on the bonnet will continue to appear in the new car. The headlamps will be much larger than the ‘leaf’ design seen on the Fabia and will sport clear lens as well. The large air dam too will be a visual treat giving the new Skoda sedan a sporty accent and will be fl anked by large fog lamps.
The front three-fourth look shows that on the new car, like in the VW Vento, the boot will not look like a bolt on job. However Skoda is going to make this a notchback like the Laura, making it more versatile than the Volkswagen. Moving on to the question of powertrains, Skoda will surely exploit the Volkswagen connection and offer the new car with both diesel and petrol engines. The maximum possibility remains that the sedan will share the 1.6-litre units already seen in the Volkswagen Vento. So expect the Skoda to offer more than 100bhp from both the petrol and diesel mills. Apart from the 5-speed manual transmission, the company might also offer an automatic version for the new car.
However the engine is not the only downsizing that is expected on the new car. It will also be priced a lot lower than what it used to be sold for in India. We expect Skoda to price the new Octavia at around Rs 6.5 lakh for the base variant of the petrol spec car and go up all the way to the Rs 10 lakh mark for the fully loaded version.
