The next-gen Skoda Octavia will make its international debut at the 2019 Frankfurt motor show that will take place from September 12-22, 2019. With only a few weeks left for the Octavia’s reveal, more information has been revealed, with the most recent being a couple of leaked images of the interiors.
From these new images, it is evident that the next-gen Octavia sports a redesigned interior layout. Among the more prominent additions is the new two-spoke steering wheel. It comes with steering-mounted controls and is similar to the steering wheel seen in the Skoda Vision X concept that was showcased at the 2018 Geneva motor show. The new executive sedan also gets a new floating infotainment system layout and a minimalist design for that dashboard with a neat row of physical buttons positioned under the infotainment system. The AC vents have also been repositioned under the infotainment system. Another feature worth pointing out is the fully digital instrument cluster.
Coming to the exterior, the next-gen Octavia will get revised styling to keep it in line with Skoda's new design language seen on the new Kamiq and Scala sold internationally. The current car’s split headlight and grille design will also be ditched by the Czech carmaker for a more traditional headlight layout with a sleeker and wider grille.
In terms of platform, the next-gen Octavia will be based on an updated version of VW’s MQB platform. It will continue to sport a notchback design, but will also be offered as an estate in international markets. Skoda is expected to bring its 1.5-litre TSI turbo-petrol engine to India, and is also evaluating the possibility to upgrade its current 2.0-litre diesel to meet the upcoming BS6 emission norms.
The next-gen Skoda Octavia will be launched in our market by the end of 2020 and it will compete with the likes of the Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra. As we had previously reported, the Skoda Karoq is also scheduled to launch in Indiaby mid-2020.
Uday Singh
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
Viraaj Bhatnagar
