Skoda Octavia variants and overview

Skoda/VW group was looking enthusiastic with their upcoming products like Kushaq, Taigun, Slavia, Virtus and Octavia where they are planning to grab 5% permanent market share in India. Right now they have just 1% marketshare and sell only around 4000 cars per month.

With growing fan following of their successful products Skoda Octavia, Skoda had a great opportunity to grab 500+ customers every month with this car by sanely pricing it around 17.99 to 28.99 with 6 Variants. 3 Manual and 3 Automatic. They could have plonked 1.5 TSI for the starting two variants and should have given 2.0 for the models above 24 lacs.

With discontinuation of Altis and Civic, Octavia had the great opportunity to attract customers with good price point and fetch customers that already are looking towards Creta top variant, Compass, Harrier, Safari and Elantra etc.

Indian brands are already struggling to sell sedans because of the SUV craze and now by pricing Octavia as 26 and 29 lacs, they literally have make it dead on arrival. 25+ lacs segment customer always look for a premium car like Superb, Kodiaq, Fortuner and Endeavour. Octavia has become like Superb now, in looks, size, space, features and Engine/Transmission too then why have a different product? What is your target audience here? How would you convince someone to buy an Octavia over Superb OR Superb over Octavia?

This has created doubts in the minds of enthusiasts like us who are thinking that Kushaq will be priced between 9-16 lacs.

However, as a product Octavia doesn't disappoint in any department. It has a powerful 2.0 TSI 190 BHP and 320 nm torque Engine with 7 Speed DSG (DQ381) which is reliable as compared to DQ200

It comes loaded with tons of safety features like 8 Airbags, double collision protection, ESP, EBD, Hill Hold, Brake assist and Park assist.

Thing Octavia excel at

• A well-rounded premium sedan. 80% of the A4 / C-Class / 3-Series at a significantly lower price
• Understated exterior & interior styling matched with solid build quality
• Comfortable cabin with good quality materials, supportive seats and plenty of storage
• Insanely fun 2.0 turbo-petrol engine with 187 BHP & 320 Nm on tap
• Fast & improved wet-clutch 7-speed DSG (instead of the notoriously unreliable DQ200)
• Mature suspension. High-speed manners are sorted
• Cavernous 600 liter boot gobbles up big bags! This is your airport express
• Loaded with features such as Bi-LED headlamps, wireless connectivity & smartphone charging, hands-free parking, high-res touchscreen with gesture controls, hands-free boot operation etc.
• 610W Canton ICE with 11 speakers & a subwoofer provides a truly premium sound experience
• 5-star Euro NCAP crash test rating. Loaded with safety features such as 8 airbags, 3-point seatbelts for all passengers, ESP, EBD, hill hold, brake assist, fatigue alert etc.
• Sheer attention to detail (touch-sensitive cabin light controls, felt-lined glovebox, two boot lamps, memory seats for passenger too, umbrella holders, USB-C port on the IRVM, smartphone pockets at the rear, keyless sensors on all doors, washer on the parking camera, storage nets…)
• 6-year extended warranty & 4-year all inclusive service package

Things Octavia lacks

L&K variant is overpriced by 4-lakh rupees, in our opinion
• Lack of powertrain options. No diesel engine for heavy users or a cheaper, more reliable MT
• New-style large radiator grille will divide opinions. Some like it, some find it ugly
• Misses in the equipment list such as a sunroof, ventilated seats & regular USB ports
• Pathetic stock tyres are among the worst we've experienced. An upgrade is compulsory
• DSG reliability woes (although we're a bit more optimistic about this new DQ381 gearbox)
• Skoda’s notorious dealerships, after-sales horror stories & suspect long-term reliability
• Petrol revs to just ~6,000 rpm! That's too low for such a beautiful turbo-charged motor
• Single digit fuel economy of the turbo-petrol AT in the city
• No full-size spare wheel. Also, we don’t like the after-market’ish design of the L&K rims
• Merely 137 mm of ground clearance seems risky for broken Indian roads & tall speed humps
• Massive rear floor hump makes things uncomfortable for the 5th occupant