[dZired]

Thank you to BHPian vikramk for sharing this information with other enthusiasts!

Skoda has introduced a new Ambition Plus variant of the Octavia sedan, which sits between the Ambition and Style Plus trim levels. This new variant is available with the petrol automatic, diesel manual, and diesel automatic powertrains. Interestingly, the Ambition Plus variant can be bought with the 1.8-litre TSI + DSG combination, which was till now only available on the top-end Style Plus variant. Being around Rs. 2 lakh cheaper than the top of the line variant, the new Ambition Plus trim will make the 1.8 TSI DSG powertrain accessible to a larger customer base.

In comparison to the Ambition variant, the Octavia Ambition Plus gets additional features like Bi-xenon headlights, LED DRLs, LED tail lamps, electronic stability control (ESC), a height adjustable front passenger seat, a 6.5-inch LCD TFT display for the infotainment system with SmartLink connectivity, leather seats, electrically foldable ORVMs, cruise control, automatic headlamps, and automatic wipers.

As a result, the only features missing on the Ambition Plus compared to the top-end Style Plus variant include the Tyre Pressure Monitoring (TPM) system, rear side airbags, curtain airbags, sunroof, keyless entry and go, electrically adjustable driver seat with memory function, a navigation system, and a rear-view camera.

The Skoda Octavia variant line-up now includes the following models:

Petrol Manual
Ambition 1.4 TSI - Rs. 16,75,832

Diesel Manual
Ambition 2.0 TDI CR - Rs. 18,66,068
Ambition Plus 2.0 TDI CR - Rs. 19,33,487

Petrol Automatic
Ambition Plus 1.8 TSI AT - Rs. 19,06,115
Style Plus 1.8 TSI AT - Rs. 21,21,618

Diesel Automatic
Ambition 2.0 TDI CR AT - Rs. 19,99,119
Ambition Plus 2.0 TDI CR AT - Rs. 20,68,473
Style Plus 2.0 TDI CR AT - Rs. 22,64,988

(All prices ex-showroom, Delhi)

Link to Team-BHP News

[Vid6639]

The features chopped off are really not must have features except probably the extra airbags.

The on road price of the 1.8 TSI Ambition+ is 3 lakhs lower than then Style plus. You still get the leather seats, bi-xenon lights. DSG with paddles and all the essential features.

This makes the Ambition+ a very good VFM package overall. Anyone looking at the explosive 1.8TSI and can't stretch to the Style plus at 27 lakhs can easily pick this at 24 lakhs.

Good move Skoda. Now imagine getting a 1.8TSI with a manual box and without the 250Nm torque limitation at 22 lakhs. Drool.

[AYP]

This will bring smile to the face of the people who desired a more affordable 1.8 TSI or a well equipped TDI, but only had the option of the Jetta Highline. Though they could have given atleast 2 airbags at the rear if not 4.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The features chopped off are really not must have features except probably the extra airbags.
.

Summarising, if you have kids, buy the Style, if you have "in-laws" buy the Ambition Plus

[djay99]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Good move Skoda. Now imagine getting a 1.8TSI with a manual box and without the 250Nm torque limitation at 22 lakhs. Drool.

1.8TSI with a manual tranny with 320NM will be more explosive, more reliable as well as cheaper. Its like sone pe suhaaga

Originally Posted by ajmat

if you have "in-laws" buy the Ambition Plus

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by dZired

Petrol Automatic
Ambition Plus 1.8 TSI AT - Rs. 19,06,115
Style Plus 1.8 TSI AT - Rs. 21,21,618

Crazy increases in prices in the last 10 months. I bought my Style+ TSi DSG in December 2015 for ex-s Rs. 20.15 lakhs. Now the same vehicle is Rs. 21.21lakhs!

Amazing to think that the D segment used to start at ~ 14 lakhs barely 5 years back!

[RohanDheman]

For the convenience of everyone, the update feature list can be found at the link below

http://www.skoda-auto.co.in/models/octavia/features

Cheers
Rohan

[dragstar]

Can this be because of the heat from the newly launched 6th gen Elantra?

The price difference between the Ambition and Ambition Plus 2.0 TDI CR AT is a mere ₹70,000 and a whole ₹ 2 lakh jump for the next Style Plus. It is like killing the base Ambition model. And the rear view camera is no longer a premium feature. Fail to understand why do car manufacturers omit this from middle or base models. Not that it costs a lot, just a less than ₹500 camera with some wiring and software rejig in the already present 6.5inch screen.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by dragstar

Can this be because of the heat from the newly launched 6th gen Elantra?

The price difference between the Ambition and Ambition Plus 2.0 TDI CR AT is a mere ₹70,000 and a whole ₹ 2 lakh jump for the next Style Plus. It is like killing the base Ambition model.

Good point. This is almost like a price revision by introducing a new variant. Airbags aside, many of the features are quite skippable and the feature management for most part is quite intelligent to offer a product that's 2 lakh cheaper what with the Elantra also throwing its hat into the D segment ring.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Crazy increases in prices in the last 10 months. I bought my Style+ TSi DSG in December 2015 for ex-s Rs. 20.15 lakhs. Now the same vehicle is Rs. 21.21lakhs!

Amazing to think that the D segment used to start at ~ 14 lakhs barely 5 years back!

Yes. The prices are frightful indeed. A new Yeti (India top spec) now costs 29.5 on road Bangalore!
I got mine for around 19.5 post discounts when the actual price was 21.5 or so 5 years ago.
Was also looking at Gypsy King - it used to be 5.15 on road Bangalore in 2004. Hardtop brand new- stock. Now it costs 8.1 lac (if you can get one).
When it was launched in 1985/1986 it used to cost just Rs 75000-80000 and when the King was launched in 1995-1996 it used to cost about 2.2 lacs on road!

One would think that prices would hold or get cheaper with more production but it looks like the falling rupee has killed us all.
Thinking of a litre of petrol in 1987- 10 Rupees. USD was around 10 -15 rupees then..
Now a litre of petrol is 65 odd and the USD too is Rs 67.5/- odd.

Truly frightful because what 10 bucks could get you 30 years ago, only a 100 bucks can, nowadays. Even a road side beggar scoffs at you if you give any less than 10 bucks!

[harishpr]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Yes. The prices are frightful indeed. A new Yeti (India top spec) now costs 29.5 on road Bangalore!
I got mine for around 19.5 post discounts when the actual price was 21.5 or so...5 years ago.
.

I picked up top spec yeti on Nov 2013 (not even 3 yrs) for 19.2 lakhs all inclusive after massive discounts. When I see the price of Yeti, I'm shocked. Though Yeti has low resale value (cars24.com quotes my yeti for 8 to 10 lakhs), I don't understand the logic of increasing prices on new ones. On the one hand I lost around 50% in depreciation on my Yeti in less than 3 years, the new one has become at least 40% more expensive. Anyways, I plan to stick onto my Yeti for atleast another 3 years. It's rock solid and feels VFM all of the sudden.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by harishpr

I picked up top spec yeti on Nov 2013 (not even 3 yrs) for 19.2 lakhs all inclusive after massive discounts. When I see the price of Yeti, I'm shocked. Though Yeti has low resale value (cars24.com quotes my yeti for 8 to 10 lakhs), I don't understand the logic of increasing prices on new ones. On the one hand I lost around 50% in depreciation on my Yeti in less than 3 years, the new one has become at least 40% more expensive. Anyways, I plan to stick onto my Yeti for atleast another 3 years. It's rock solid and feels VFM all of the sudden.

Yes. The resale is pathetic. But thats another reason why the car is more of a "keeper" - it comes so heavily loaded with stuff that there is nothing quite like it in the market - absolutely NO direct competition at all. And for someone who likes and appreciates the uniqueness of this vehicle, then it is very tough to find a substitute. So when someone offers 7 lacs and such dam fool values for this brilliant 5 years old car, I feel like whacking them rather hard over their heads with the thick end of my 7 iron.

And yes, like you said, the price paid for it when I bought it, seems extremely VFM in comparison to the present pricing of nearly 29.5 L On road. The present pricing has a lot to do with the falling rupee and the rise of the Dollar so even CKD vehicles feel the heat.

Now that my Yeti has hit the 5 year mark, Ive just got the 5th Service done. It feels absolutely lovely. Doesn't feel 5 years old at all. And the fact is that I ve not done much mileage in it either, so all going well, it should be good to hang on to for at least another 3 years or so...I really see no reason to change.

In any case, there still isn't anything that quite compares with it, so I ll surely hang in there till something comes along!

[nakul0888]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Crazy increases in prices in the last 10 months. I bought my Style+ TSi DSG in December 2015 for ex-s Rs. 20.15 lakhs. Now the same vehicle is Rs. 21.21lakhs!

Amazing to think that the D segment used to start at ~ 14 lakhs barely 5 years back!

Mere 2 years back....you could have gotten a fully loaded civic with leather seats and sunroof for 12L on road after discounts. That was the civics last hurrah. The Skoda laura 1.8 tsi active started at 11.8 lakhs ex showroom! My friend 3 years back brought a fully loaded automatic cruze for 16 L on road.
Those were the good times.

I think the price increase in the d segment maybe due to inflation PLUS pricing strategy. The buyers have abandoned d segment for cross overs and SUVs. Some just skip the segment all together.
It seems only a few loyal D segment buyers are actually left in the market and I think the companies are trying to milk maximum money out of them while they can. Sad indeed

[RohanDheman]

So i had the old brochure with me and was comparing it to the updated one to see the differences on MY17 cars and while the only addition to Style Plus seems to be navigation- the ambition (as it was) has lost out on a fair bit of kit to make way for the Ambition Plus. The most glaring omissions i found are as under:

1. ESC, Multi Collision Braking and Prefill have been removed
2. Leather seats are removed
3. The screen size is down to 5inch from 6.5 inch
4. Electrically foldable mirrors removed
5. Bluetooth GSM call preparation has been removed
6. LED tail lamps are removed
7. Maxidot removed
8. Cruise Control removed
9. Coming home/leaving home lights removed
10. Audio control on steering wheels removed

So now i am wondering if the new variant is ambition plus or ambition with features removed!

Rohan

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by RohanDheman

The most glaring omissions i found are as under:

1. ESC, Multi Collision Braking and Prefill have been removed
2. Leather seats are removed
3. The screen size is down to 5inch from 6.5 inch
4. Electrically foldable mirrors removed
5. Bluetooth GSM call preparation has been removed
6. LED tail lamps are removed
7. Maxidot removed
8. Cruise Control removed
9. Coming home/leaving home lights removed
10. Audio control on steering wheels removed

So now i am wondering if the new variant is ambition plus or ambition with features removed!

Rohan

Rohan, you have really hit the nail on the head.

Very slimy of Skoda to quietly ditch so many desirable features and then launch it at a price (which seems low to the uninformed), but is actually quite a money-maker for them in terms of margins! Lot of marketing MBAs at work here methinks.

I am also confused on what exactly Skoda have added to the Bolero for navigation. Even Briskoda is rife with confusion with some saying that a hardware module has to be specced during ordering. Others are saying it needs an 'authorized' Kenwood module. Another set are saying it cannot be done to the Bolero as it needs a dedicated (2nd) SD card module which was done away with the move to MIB2.

Do let us know when you get more details from your dealer.