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The new Octavia Estate: Space at its finest

Mladá Boleslav, 19th February 2013 – ŠKODA continues its model offensive with the new Octavia Estate. Only a few weeks after the launch of the new Octavia Hatch, the third-generation Octavia Estate celebrates its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show (5th - 17th March 2013).

ŠKODA’s Octavia sets new standards in the compact segment and reaffirms its unique position in the class. The new Octavia Estate offers unrivalled space, functionality, innovative safety and comfort systems, fuel efficiency, and many ‘Simply Clever’ ideas at exceptional value for money setting it apart from its competitors.

“The ŠKODA Octavia is at the heart of the brand and our most popular model by far,” said ŠKODA Chairman, Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. He continued: “The Estate represents all good ŠKODA values and has a large share in the success of this model range. With the third generation, the Octavia Estate takes a huge leap forward. The car really is in a class of its own; offering mid-class quality at compact-estate prices.”

The new ŠKODA Octavia Estate has grown significantly, boasting a dynamic and elegant design. ŠKODA Chief Designer, Jozef Kabaň, and his team have redesigned the car from head to toe. Never before has a ŠKODA Octavia Estate been so dynamic and yet timelessly elegant, distinctive, sophisticated and confident on the road as the third generation of this best seller.

Dynamic loadmaster with precise design

The new ŠKODA Octavia Estate is 90 mm longer and 45 mm wider than its predecessor. The wheelbase has grown by almost 11 cm, resulting in record room and space. “Our ŠKODA Octavia Estate offers rear-seat passengers lots of legroom – 73 mm in front of the knees – the highest in its segment. And at 610 litres, the size of the boot sets a new record for its class,” said Dr. Frank Welsch, ŠKODA Board Member for Technical Development. By folding the rear backrests down, the boot space of the Estate increases to an impressive 1,740 litres.

There are also numerous ‘Simply Clever’ details shared with the Octavia Hatch, including, a double-sided boot floor mat, the comprehensive net restraint system, multiple bag hooks, a waste bin and numerous bottle holders, multimedia device holders, an ice scraper in the fuel tank opening and a warning-vest holder under the driver’s seat. In addition, the new Estate offers a host of smart solutions which make life easier, including a coat rack and a remote fold-down function for the rear-seat backrest. The folding passenger seat makes transporting long objects easy. There is also space for a luggage compartment retractable parcel shelf and roof bars under the adjustable and retractable variable boot floor.

The design of the Octavia Estate is the epitome of clarity, precision and perfect proportions. “The new ŠKODA Octavia Estate is the perfect combination of form and function,” said Dr. Welsch.

The front view is identical to the new Hatch. The clearly structured side view of the new ŠKODA Octavia Estate works through a dynamically flowing silhouette. Additionally, the closed, clear-cut side graphic is distinctively emphasised by the high Tornado line. The roofline of the Estate slopes gently towards the rear and passes elegantly over into the D-pillar. The rear lights extend far into the side rear section and are the final points of the tornado line.

The rear is also clearly and precisely designed. The new Octavia Estate is instantly recognisable as a ŠKODA from the back view because of the C-shaped taillights as well as the characteristic triangular elements in the tailgate. Just like the Hatch, the ŠKODA Octavia Estate has two C-shaped light strips in each taillight, which enhance the graphical impact.

Innovative assistants, fuel-efficient engines

There are modern safety assistants available upon request onboard the new ŠKODA Octavia Estate such as the Automatic Post-Collision Brake, Front Assistant with City Emergency Braking Function, the Driver Activity Assistant (fatigue detection), the Crew Protection Assistant and the Lane Assistant to keep you inside the lanes. If an accident does occur, a comprehensive passive safety package ensures the best possible protection of the driver and passengers, including up to nine airbags.

The new Octavia Estate has numerous electronic comfort systems that have so far only been seen in higher class cars. These include the new Adaptive Cruise Control, an automatic distance control and the Intelligent Light Assistant, a high-beam assistant. There is also a range of completely new generation radio and radio-navigation systems.

The newly developed engines of the third-generation ŠKODA Octavia Estate are up to 17% more economical than the previous generation engines. In the UK, two petrol and two diesels will be available. A fuel efficient GreenLine II version will reach a consumption of only 83.1mpg and CO2 emissions of only 89 g/km.

Also, to be seen for the first time at the 2013 Geneva Motor show is the ŠKODA Octavia Estate 4×4 with a newly developed all-wheel drive and fifth-generation Haldex clutch.

 
Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

15 million ŠKODA vehicles produced since 1905

Mladá Boleslav, 8th February 2013 – ŠKODA has produced its 15-millionth car. The celebration vehicle – a silver, third-generation ŠKODA Octavia – rolled off the assembly line at ŠKODA’s main plant in Mladá Boleslav on the 5th February. The vehicle will be used as a VIP sedan at the ŠKODA Technology Center in Česana.

The 15 million car threshold underlines the dynamic growth of the brand. In the past six years alone, one third of the total 15 million vehicles rolled off the assembly lines. Just one year ago, at the beginning of 2012, ŠKODA had produced its 14-millionth car.

“The entire ŠKODA team is very proud of the 15 million celebration,” says ŠKODA chairman of the board, Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. “Producing 15 million cars is a symbol for the great development of the ŠKODA brand. We have been building vehicles for 118 years and automobiles since the year 1905. Thus we are among the automobile brands with the richest traditions in the world,” says Vahland. In the coming years, ŠKODA plans to continue to speed up development and sell at least 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2018. By launching the Citigo, Rapid and the new Octavia, the greatest model offensive in the company's history has had a successful start. In total ŠKODA will launch eight new or facelifted models in 2013.

A class of its own

In the coming days, the new ŠKODA Octavia will be launched in the Czech Republic and Germany, while other markets will follow in the coming weeks. “The ŠKODA Octavia is the brand’s core product and outsells other ŠKODA models by far,” says the ŠKODA CEO. In 2012, Octavia accounted for about 44% of the brand’s worldwide sales. Like no other car, the Octavia symbolises the rapid success story of the brand over the past two decades. Since 1996, about 3.75 million Octavias have been delivered to customers.

ŠKODA UK will launch new Octavia in the coming weeks to the UK market. In 2012, the UK broke through the 50,000 cars barrier for the first time with more than 53,000 cars and a market share of 2.6%, a record for the UK.

Domestic investments in the future of the ŠKODA brand

For the production of the new Octavia generation, ŠKODA set in motion one of the most comprehensive modernisation and expansion projects in the history of the main plant in Mladá Boleslav. The core of the measures consists of an increase in the capacity of the assembly line for the ŠKODA models Octavia and Rapid, from 800 to 1,200 vehicles per day. For this purpose, a new body shop and a fully-automated paint shop for interior car body parts were installed at the plant in Mladá Boleslav, among other projects. This month will see the ground-breaking for a new, even more environmentally-friendly pressing line. Besides the ŠKODA Octavia and the ŠKODA Rapid, the ŠKODA Fabia is produced on another assembly line in Mladá Boleslav.

At the ŠKODA plant in Kvasiny, Czech Republic, the production capacity for the ŠKODA Yeti was recently doubled to 100,000 vehicles per year. Furthermore, ŠKODA modernised the plant in order to manufacture the ŠKODA Roomster, which moved to Kvasiny. Until the end of 2012, the Roomster had been produced in the ŠKODA plant in Vrchlabí. The company invested about 7.2 million EUR in relocating the production.

The relocation of the Roomster production to Kvasiny took place within the framework of the conversion of the ŠKODA plant in Vrchlabí, Czech Republic, into an exclusive component factory. Since October 2012, it has been producing the direct shift transmission DQ200 with dual clutch (DSG) for the Volkswagen Group. Together with the Volkswagen Group, the Czech manufacturer invested about 170 million EUR in the preparation of the plant for DSG production.

The international growth markets

In order to prepare for the planned growth, ŠKODA has also been expanding its capacities in China, Russia and India:

In China, the ŠKODA Yeti has been built in cooperation with Shanghai Volkswagen since the end of 2012. This year will also see the introduction of the Chinese version of the ŠKODA Rapid, followed by the new ŠKODA Octavia.

In Russia, the compact SUV ŠKODA Yeti began to roll off the assembly lines at the Russian GAZ plant in Nizhniy Novgorod a few weeks ago. Beginning in mid-2013, the plant will also manufacture the new ŠKODA Octavia for the Russian market. The manufacture of the new ŠKODA Rapid for the Russian market has been planned to begin in spring 2014. 

 
Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

Ice-cool Mikkelsen thrills the crowds on an Arctic adventure

Milton Keynes, 29th January 2012 - Andreas Mikkelsen marked a brief return to ŠKODA with a crowd-pleasing second place finish on the Lapland Arctic Rally in Finland (25th-26th Jan).

Driving the same Fabia S2000 that took him to victory on the 2011 Cyprus Rally, Andreas entered the event as part of preparations for his 2013 WRC programme with Volkswagen Motorsport.

With the thermometer little more than -24c for most of the two-day Rovaniemi-based event, Andreas and co-driver Mikko Markkula faced a tough battle against a host of local drivers who started the winter classic with considerably more experience of the stages.

With the event regulations favouring Group N cars, many of which enjoyed a 100bhp advantage over Andreas’s PrintSport-run S2000-specification Fabia, the double-IRC champion had to drive at his very best to stay ahead of the pack.

Fastest times on four of the opening day’s five stages gave Andreas a slim lead at the end of the first leg. However, his advantage was short-lived when his Fabia S2000 picked up a puncture on the opening stage of the second leg. The loss of four minutes to change the tyre dropped Andreas and Mikko down to eighth.

With nothing to lose, Andreas threw everything into the four remaining stages, clawing back time and giving the crowds plenty to cheer. At final service, leader Juha Salo was forced to change a gearbox, picking up time penalties that set up a thrilling final two stages. Despite pushing to the maximum on the fast, snow-covered stages, it proved a challenge too far for the young Norwegian, who was unable to overturn the time deficit. After 10 action-packed stages, Salo took victory by just 1m 37s.

Despite missing out on top honours, Andreas thoroughly enjoyed being reunited with his Fabia S2000: “This has been a great rally and being back in the ŠKODA feels like coming home. We had to fight hard the last two days – some of the stages are crazy fast – but we have had great fun.” Andreas continues his preparations for 2013 with another Fabia S2000 outing on the Finnskog Rally in Norway this weekend (2nd Feb).

 
Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

 

Andreas completes pre-season test rallies with 2nd on Rally Finnskog 

Milton Keynes, 5th February, 2013 - Andreas Mikkelsen finished 2nd on Rally Finnskog (2nd February) in a ŠKODA Fabia S2000, completing the icy eight stage event just 10.3 seconds behind Mads Østberg’s World Rally Car.

The result gives the Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion and former ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver the lead in the Norwegian Rally Championship, but more importantly it completes a highly successful two-rally pre-season test programme in which Andreas and new co-driver Mikko Markkula were able to fine-tune their pace note system under competitive conditions.

The 63.2 mile (101.72km) Rally Finnskog was held on snow and ice-covered forest roads near Kongsvinger in Norway. There were four different special stages, each tackled twice.

Østberg led initially, before a fuel pump problem on SS3 gave a hard-charging Andreas the lead. Despite the normally-aspirated Fabia S2000 being less powerful that Østberg’s turbocharged Fiesta WRC, Andreas held onto the lead until the penultimate stage.

Just 1.1 seconds separated the dueling duo as they entered the final stage, and despite it being a treacherously slippery 14.7 miles (23.67kms) long, Andreas was only 9.2 seconds slower than Østberg at the flying finish.

Coming two weeks after finishing 2nd on the Arctic Rally in Finland, the performance on Rally Finnskog concluded what had been perfect pre-season preparation, as the thoughts of Andreas and Mikko now turn to their next rally together – their debut for Volkswagen Motorsport on Rally Portugal (11th - 14th April).

Andreas: “Rally Finnskog was another really good event for Mikko and I to establish our pace note system even more and the fight we had with Mads Østberg in his World Rally Car showed that we can be very fast in a car together. Mikko and I have done some testing together, but it’s a lot better to do some proper rallies and I’d like to thank EVEN management for letting us drive its ŠKODA Fabia S2000 and contest the Arctic and Finnskog events. It has been two very valuable rallies for us, before the serious business starts in Portugal.”

 
Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

 

New high spec Laurin & Klement model adds extra class to the ŠKODA Yeti range

Milton Keynes, 21st January 2013 – ŠKODA’s reputation is built on offering customers outstanding value for money, and Yeti buyers can now get even more equipment as standard with the flagship Laurin & Klement model.

The new range-topper is available to order from today as a unique trim level. It features the same technical specification and features as the Yeti Elegance, but includes more than £4,000 worth of extras for just £2,000 more on the Recommended Retail Price.

Laurin & Klement is the badge ŠKODA has traditionally given to its flagship high specification models. The name pays tribute to the brand’s proud history as a bicycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer. Václav Laurin and Václav Klement are the founding fathers of ŠKODA, and who in 1895 started a company which sowed the seeds of everything ŠKODA is today.

The Yeti Laurin & Klement is available only as a four-wheel-drive model and comes with a choice of three engines: the 1.8-litre TSI 160PS 4x4, 2.0-litre TDI CR 140PS 4x4 DSG DPF and 2.0-litre TDI CR 170PS 4x4 DPF.

Additional ŠKODA Yeti Laurin & Klement exterior features (above Elegance):

  • 17-inch Annapura polished alloy wheels
  • Silver roof rails
  • Black side protective moulding with chrome ledge
  • Auto-dimming driver’ door mirror
  • L&K inscription on front mud guards

Additional ŠKODA Yeti Laurin & Klement interior features (above Elegance):

  • L&K inscription on front mud guards
  • Columbus satellite navigation with DAB radio
  • Heated windscreen
  • Panoramic sunroof
  • Park Assist
  • Black leather seats with silver stitching and L&K logo
  • Black small leather package with silver stitching
  • Three-spoke black multi-function leather steering wheel
  • Piano Black cabin inlays with L&K logo
  • L&K door sill scuff plates
  • Floor mats with silver stitching

The ŠKODA Yeti Laurin & Klement is available in all exterior colours with the exception of Corrida Red and Pacific Blue. The option of a coloured roof is not available. Customers who want to further personalise their car can do so using the full range of Yeti optional extras.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk