Skoda Superb turns 85 years old

- The first car with the Superb badge rolled out in the autumn of 1934

- Superb means ‘stately’ in Latin, says Skoda

On 22nd October 1934, exactly 85 years ago, Skoda unveiled the Superb nameplate for the first time for a full-size luxury saloon. It was made by the Czechoslovak car manufacturer ASAP, and later AZNP between 1934 to 1949 in which 1000 units were manufactured. The moniker was revived in 2001 with the introduction of the first modern generation of the Superb and since then it has been on sale as the flagship model.

Skoda’s first series model was powered by a 2.5-litre 55bhp six-cylinder. It received an overwhelming response and customers had to wait for four weeks for the hardtop and two weeks for the convertible. It also came with standard radio, six electron tubes and rosewood shelves. Later on, the engine displacement was increased to 3.2-litres and then a V8 was introduced as well. Production was halted in 1949 due to political reasons.

Then in 2001, Skoda brought back the moniker as an all-new product developed in conjunction with the Volkswagen Passat. It set a benchmark for rear legroom in its segment. The reborn Superb found 136068 takers before the second generation model arrived in 2008. The second-gen model debuted the keyless start system for Skoda and was available in both hatch and estate versions. A total of 217,734 models were rolled out from Skoda’s Kvasiny plant.

The current Superb came around in 2015 and for the first time introduced Skoda’s ‘Simply Clever’ features.  A series of driver assistance and safety features were also a part of the new update. This year, the sedan has received a facelift and a new iV plug-in hybrid variant.

In terms of total sales, 54% of all the Superb models have been sold in Europe while there is a huge demand in China where one in three cars sold by the carmaker is a Superb. Between 2001 and the end of the first quarter of this year, a total of 1,280,600 units of the Superb have been rolled out already.

In India, the Superb was introduced in 2009 and has promptly received updates on par with its corresponding European version. Currently, the Superb is sold with a 1.8-litre TFSI petrol and a 2.0-litre TDI engine across the Style, the Sportline and the L&K trims. It is priced between Rs 26–33 lakhs (ex-showroom) and rivals the Volkswagen Passat and Toyota Camry in India.