[PPS]

Was watching the Autocar show where Hormazd Sorabjee mentioned the following about India plans:

- 2litre 150bhp diesel engine
- 180bhp tsi petrol engine
- Laura & the new Octavia will co-exist for a while before Laura gets phased out.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by PPS

Was watching the Autocar show where Hormazd Sorabjee mentioned the following about India plans:

- 2litre 150bhp diesel engine
- 180bhp tsi petrol engine
- Laura & the new Octavia will co-exist for a while before Laura gets phased out.

If Laura and new Octavia are going to co-exist then the big question is how are they going position both the cars given the narrow space available to them in the D1 segment. Are we going to see a similar top down approach they had followed when the Laura was launched and sold alongside the earlier Octavia? i.e. Offer the new car in the highest variant only - The L&K with all bells and whistles. Once the Laura kits are sold out, bring the lower variants of the new car out of the bag to fit into that space.

[nik_kapur]

Has anyone spied the new Octavia in India? I dont expect a launch before Diwali 2013 by the looks of it.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Are we going to see a similar top down approach they had followed when the Laura was launched and sold alongside the earlier Octavia? Once the Laura kits are sold out, bring the lower variants of the new car out of the bag to fit into that space.

Yes, he did say something to that effect if i remember clearly. The lower variants will be added later on.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Has anyone spied the new Octavia in India? I dont expect a launch before Diwali 2013 by the looks of it.

Well, I have, but not in India. I am in Paris right now and this is what luckily struck me today en route -












































I guess this makes me the 1st TBhpian from India to touch and feel the New OCTAVIA... Cheers

[aravind.anand]

Few of the cars in the pictures above are of the European Skoda Rapid. The Octavia's rear is a lot better compared to the Rapid, as it feels more complete.
I hope Skoda don't price it any higher than the Laura, as the Laura is already in the upper echelons of the segment.

[sunny310c]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Has anyone spied the new Octavia in India? I dont expect a launch before Diwali 2013 by the looks of it.

Really hope it's not that late cause I have already delayed my decision of buying a car by 6 months. Waiting another 6 - 7 months is not something I even want to consider right now. I hope that what Autocar and Overdrive have been saying about a launch in another 2 or 3 months is closer to the actual launch date. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Well, I have, but not in India. I am in Paris right now and this is what luckily struck me today en route -

I guess this makes me the 1st TBhpian from India to touch and feel the New OCTAVIA... Cheers

Could you tell us more about the Rapid(Euro one)? If you were able to get a good look at it? It seems more likely to make it here as a relaunch of the Octavia badge.

The new Octavia is bang in Jetta territory, unless Skoda launch it with a 1.6D and seriously compromise the kit.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

The new Octavia is bang in Jetta territory, unless Skoda launch it with a 1.6D and seriously compromise the kit.

It should be in the Jetta category right? Thats where the Laura is current now (MK2 Octavia).

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Could you tell us more about the Rapid(Euro one)? If you were able to get a good look at it? It seems more likely to make it here as a relaunch of the Octavia badge.

I don't understand why you are speculating more, when numerous people have said it is coming with the 1.8 tsi and 2.0 tdi including Autocar, who is usually right about all this. What is yet to be seen is what variants they bring here.

The international Octavia will come here and not the Rapid.

[v.anand]

Looks like the New Octavia is going to be similar to New Jetta which lacks the feel good factor on models they replace in the interests of cost. The model here seems to lack the projector lamp which is standard on basic variants of existing one. The interior of present Jetta is no comparison to the quality feel of earlier one and this Octavia could very well be similar. The initial spy pics looked real nice due to pretty wheels, need to see how the on road ones turn out in India.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I don't understand why you are speculating more, when numerous people have said it is coming with the 1.8 tsi and 2.0 tdi including Autocar, who is usually right about all this. What is yet to be seen is what variants they bring here.

The international Octavia will come here and not the Rapid.

We'd all be referring ACI if their information was spot on. The media had plenty of articles about how Skoda had quite a gap between their Rapid and Laura and about reviving the Octavia badge for a smaller (than Laura )car.

We are all speculating about this, I don't see how my post is "more speculation".

There is no reason why the 1.8T should make it here.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Could you tell us more about the Rapid(Euro one)? If you were able to get a good look at it? It seems more likely to make it here as a relaunch of the Octavia badge.

The new Octavia is bang in Jetta territory, unless Skoda launch it with a 1.6D and seriously compromise the kit.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I don't understand why you are speculating more, when numerous people have said it is coming with the 1.8 tsi and 2.0 tdi including Autocar, who is usually right about all this. What is yet to be seen is what variants they bring here.

The international Octavia will come here and not the Rapid.

@Avira, there is very little speculation. The Octavia MK3 is coming here is as 'Octavia' here as Skoda is reintroducing the label here. There is no Rapid (Euro) one coming here for the time being. There is already a 'local' Rapid here. End of story.

@akshay. Exactly as you said brother. I think the speculation is coming more from the personal surmises of what might happen versus what is planned to happen.

Originally Posted by v.anand

Looks like the New Octavia is going to be similar to New Jetta which lacks the feel good factor on models they replace in the interests of cost. The model here seems to lack the projector lamp which is standard on basic variants of existing one. The interior of present Jetta is no comparison to the quality feel of earlier one and this Octavia could very well be similar. The initial spy pics looked real nice due to pretty wheels, need to see how the on road ones turn out in India.

What makes you think so? While the new Jetta got a bit of 'brickbats' response for supposed lowering of quality levels (just a wee bit for the Euro version and quite a lot for the US version), the new Octavia has been universally appreciated as considerable step up in each department. Since it'll be coming as a CKD, we'll get the exact same quality here. So, I don't know what are you talking about

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by v.anand

Looks like the New Octavia is going to be similar to New Jetta which lacks the feel good factor on models they replace in the interests of cost. The model here seems to lack the projector lamp which is standard on basic variants of existing one. The interior of present Jetta is no comparison to the quality feel of earlier one and this Octavia could very well be similar. The initial spy pics looked real nice due to pretty wheels, need to see how the on road ones turn out in India.

If you go through the info on the Octavia, you will see the lower variants have normal reflector lights, while the higher ones have projectors with xenons, and an LED drl strip. Even the rear lights are different on different variants. Apparently the interiors are just fine, which is good because I was hoping they wouldn't do a Jetta.

Originally Posted by avira_tk

We'd all be referring ACI if their information was spot on. The media had plenty of articles about how Skoda had quite a gap between their Rapid and Laura and about reviving the Octavia badge for a smaller (than Laura )car.

We are all speculating about this, I don't see how my post is "more speculation".

There is no reason why the 1.8T should make it here.

Boss this is not one year before the launch, there are only a few months left. So information is bound to be shared, and what Hormazd Sorabjee is saying is not speculation. A few months before, magazines are generally right about things like engine options.

The gap between the Rapid Elegance and Laura TSi is about 2.5l. I don't see how the Euro Rapid could fit in that. Also India is no longer a market where manufacturers can skimp, especially not in this segment which is growing a large amount.

There is no reason why the 1.8tsi should have been launched in the Laura either, but luckily its here. No reason for them to launch a vRS either, but even thats here.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Apparently the interiors are just fine, which is good because I was hoping they wouldn't do a Jetta.

Boss this is not one year before the launch, there are only a few months left. So information is bound to be shared, and what Hormazd Sorabjee is saying is not speculation. A few months before, magazines are generally right about things like engine options.

The gap between the Rapid Elegance and Laura TSi is about 2.5l. I don't see how the Euro Rapid could fit in that. Also India is no longer a market where manufacturers can skimp, especially not in this segment which is growing a large amount.

India is a market where you can skimp, just read your post again, the Jetta is a cheaper-to-make car than the one it replaces, it doesn't even have ACC at 25L OTR.The new car is more expensive everywhere and marks the end of Skoda as a budget brand. Unlike the Jetta, the Skoda doesn't have an American version hence the bits used are better quality and will be more expensive. Unless they reduce the kit, the product will end up being better and more expensive than the Jetta.

ACI runs issues where the cover story is Autocar rendering(photoshop job) of what the product may be like , I don't see a 1.8TSI making it here. Skoda can make the car cheaper by using the 1.6D/1.4TSI in the latest Octavia.

The gap between the diesel versions of Rapid and Laura, which are more relevant, is nearly 4L, Skoda can easily squeeze the Euro Rapid there. We will have a compact sedan with quality interiors and kit from nearly 2 segments above.