Skoda India teases the 2013 Octavia; August 9th unveil likely

Czech car maker Skoda has teased the 2013 Octavia on its Indian Facebook page and the social media build up to the car's launch has begun. Skoda India has begun building buzz around the 2013 Octavia with the #TheLegendisComingBack hash tag. This announcement indicates that Skoda would bring the Octavia brand back to India, through the car's third generation model. While Skoda's first car for India was the 1st generation Octavia, the brand launched the 2nd generation model under the Laura moniker. Both the generations of the Octavia were sold alongside each other for quite some time in India. 

Skoda is likely to unveil the 2013 Octavia in India on the 9th of August, and the car is already on sale in Europe. In the Indian car market, the Volkswagen group owned Czech car maker is expected to position the 2013 Octavia above the current Laura in terms of price and positioning. Eventually, the Laura brand name will make way for an all-Octavia line up when Skoda brings in the entry level variants of the 2013 Octavia.

The new car is much larger than the version it replaces, with both the length and wheelbase going up by quite a significant margin. The Octavia is a much more spacious car, edging into D-segment territory in terms of the space it offers its passengers. Also, Skoda has added more features and creature comforts to the 2013 Octavia. Initially, the top end versions of the car will be launched in India. Both turbo petrol and turbo diesel variants of the car will be launched.

The 1.8 liter TSI motor (180 Bhp-250 Nm) and the 2 liter TDI engine (150 Bhp-320 Nm) are expected to do duty on the first few variants of the 2013 Octavia for the Indian car market. 6 and 7 speed DSG dual clutch automatic gearboxes could be standard across the diesel and petrol engines respectively, with the torque being transmitted to the front wheels of the car. While the 1.8 liter TSI turbo petrol engined version of the 2013 Octavia gets multi-link rear suspension, all other engine variants of the car make do with a torsion beam set-up. 

Sometime next year, entry level variants of the 2013 Octavia, with engines such as the 1.4 liter TSI petrol motor and the 1.6 TDI diesel engine, found on the Volkswagen Jetta and Vento respectively, are expected to be launched in India. These variants will replace the Laura. The 2013 Octavia will be the first car based on the Volkswagen group's MQB platform, to be launched in India. The car will be assembled at Skoda's Aurangabad factory, through completely knocked down (CKD) kits. The 2013 Skoda Octavia has been spotted testing in India, and a festive season official launch is in the works.