[Scorcher]

Two more pics.

Source

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by vb-san

The Whatcar.com review says that the new Octavia is bigger (closer to a Ford Mondeo) than the current model, to differentiate it with the current European Rapid. I am not a fan of cars growing in size with newer generations.

Full article here

Yeah me too. Europe being the main market for these models, guess the decision to make it bigger is based on the market research done for those markets.

What then happens is the Indian arm is put in a fix. The bigger car means more money and they are unable to position the car in the same segment as the outgoing car and they end up making the blunder of positioning it in a higher segment and selling it along with the outgoing car with a different name. Skoda India is talking about bringing back the name 'Octavia' with the 2013 car. I hope that's not for selling the current Laura and the new Octavia simultaneously.

[anandpadhye]

Seems good looking. Whenever a new version of an already good looking car is slated for launch, my heart sinks as they mostly end up spoiling the looks :-)

And they have increased rear leg room which should be awesome. They should launch the huge set of engine choices like they do in UK - 1.8 TSi MT/DSG, 2.0 TSi MT/DSG, 2.0 CRDi MT/DSG.

[Akshay1234]

Looks good, will be based on the Jetta platform hence the rear legroom is better now. Also I doubt it will have the 1.8tsi anywhere since the Jetta too does not get it. So anyone who wants the 1.8 will have to make do with the Laura

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Looks good, will be based on the Jetta platform hence the rear legroom is better now. Also I doubt it will have the 1.8tsi anywhere since the Jetta too does not get it. So anyone who wants the 1.8 will have to make do with the Laura

Is it on the Jetta plaform, or on the MK7 Golf platform? I guess its the latter.
And yes, the Laura should be the last one to have the brilliant 1.8 TSI in this segment (from VAG).

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Is it on the Jetta plaform, or on the MK7 Golf platform? I guess its the latter.

Jetta too is a slightly longer Golf platform, so I guess the next Octy will use the same.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Jetta too is a slightly longer Golf platform, so I guess the next Octy will use the same.

This Octavia is based on MQB platform that is also used in the recently launched Golf.
The Current Jetta is a heavily modified version of the Older Golf

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

This Octavia is based on MQB platform that is also used in the recently launched Golf.
The Current Jetta is a heavily modified version of the Older Golf

Exactly! That's what I mentioned as MK7 Golf. Whereas the current Jetta is related to the MK6 Golf. Which means, the next gen Jetta will grow substantially as well

[Swanand Inamdar]

As per the latest pics, the boot still seems to be a notchback. I actually like this kind of a boot opening. Much better to load those heavy bags. The rear lights again, have changed from pic to pic! God knows what the end product would look like.

Only, if the length has increased, wouldnt that demand more money, in terms of the Indian market? Can Skoda afford to do that? The top end Laura is more expensive than the entry level Superb, already.
In that situation, where does this new offing fit?

[prithwi-81]

Here are a few pics of the undisguised Octavia/Laura caught testing somewhere in South America.
Looks a helluva lot like an old A6 Platform, which is understandable, cuz the current one is on an old Golf platform. Definately not MQB from the looks of it..

Same 2.0TSI carried over albeit with minor improvements as seen in the Audis (from 200bhp to about 209/210bhp).
Also 1.8TSI motor being further refined but dont know how much it will improve o/p.

[Omtoatom]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Also I doubt it will have the 1.8tsi anywhere since the Jetta too does not get it. So anyone who wants the 1.8 will have to make do with the Laura

+1.

Even I have a sneaky feeling that the awesome 1.8 TSI is all set to give the 2013 Octavia a miss. I'd go even further to say they may even choose not to have the petrol in a DSG guise - at least to begin with, just to test waters. Just my gut.

[raul]

Unpublished facts about the new Octavia including alloy designs from Octavia fans -

http://www.octaviafan.com/news/unpub...a-octavia-iii/

Key New Specs:
- Led back lights, bixenon and led daylight running lights
- Keyless access
- Colour maxidot

Will be interesting to see how they position this against the Jetta, if its cheaper and its most likely going to be given the new Skoda direction in India, and how overpriced Jetta already is, most folks go for this.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Here are a few pics of the undisguised Octavia/Laura caught testing somewhere in South America.
Looks a helluva lot like an old A6 Platform, which is understandable, cuz the current one is on an old Golf platform. Definately not MQB from the looks of it..

Same 2.0TSI carried over albeit with minor improvements as seen in the Audis (from 200bhp to about 209/210bhp).
Also 1.8TSI motor being further refined but dont know how much it will improve o/p.

The car looks really good.

What number plates is it carrying?
And somewhere in the background do you notice 'Starlight' Coffee shop?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Here are a few pics of the undisguised Octavia/Laura caught testing somewhere in South America.
Looks a helluva lot like an old A6 Platform, which is understandable, cuz the current one is on an old Golf platform. Definately not MQB from the looks of it..

Not sure if I understand - the current one is on the old Golf platform (5th gen), and the upcoming Octavia shares platform with the latest Golf (just launched, 7th gen).

And the car in the last picture looks different - probably the estate version of the Octavia.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Not sure if I understand - the current one is on the old Golf platform (5th gen), and the upcoming Octavia shares platform with the latest Golf (just launched, 7th gen).

And the car in the last picture looks different - probably the estate version of the Octavia.

The first two pictures are of the notch-back version while the third is of a different car, the estate version as you have observed.