Finally, the Octavia will have an electric parking brake.
Skoda’s IAA Frankfurt show is quite impressive with the new electric Citigo, the plug-in hybrid Superb, and the Monte Carlo trim to the Scala, and Kamiq. Mlada Boleslav’s best moments are yet to come. The Volkswagen Group’s Czech marque will unveil the fourth generation of its Octavia just in time for the 60th anniversary of the nameplate.
We have the wagon body design, which has proved to be more popular than the liftback with spy photographers. Although the vehicle appears camouflaged, Skoda has a trick on us. There is still plenty of extra cladding that is applied to the bodywork to confuse the untrained eye.
The faux stickers are used to cover the actual design of the headlights, just like Porsche did with its Taycan. However, Skoda will revert back to one-piece clusters following the removal of the controversial split headlamps from the outgoing Octavia III. Although the taillights are covered, we can see that they will be extended onto the tailgate when the car is viewed from the rear.
We are not expecting major styling changes to the model we are dealing with from VAG. Nevertheless, we feel that the Octavia IV will look more elegant once the disguise is removed in a few weeks to months. The Scala, which is technically the company’s compact model now, is expected to cause a slight increase in size. This will allow the Octavia to grow a little.
A few photos of the interior show where the gear knob for six-speed manual gearbox was transferred from the current Octavia. The same goes for the start/stop button. It looks exactly the same and is located in the exact same place. The similarities end here as the prototype featured a fancy new steering mechanism with a two-spoke design and an evolution to the digital instrument cluster.
The center console is covered with a piece fabric, but it’s still easy to see that the air vents were moved lower. A row of buttons is located above them. There is also a large touchscreen for the infotainment systems. We’re using one of those screens to mimic a tablet, but it’s not integrated into our dashboard.
Skoda finally abandoned the traditional handbrake lever and introduced an electric parking brake to its new Octavia prototype. This was to show Skoda’s determination to make this car more popular. The cabin is different from the photos. This is because there were two prototypes. Although the one with an electric parking brake was equipped with an automatic transmission, it was missing the chrome trim that surrounds the driver’s display. The current Octavia had the steering wheel.
Although the interior may not be as expensive as its predecessor, once all of the production pieces are in place, it will look much better. The interior looks a little cheap because it doesn’t have the soft-touch materials we want to make the Octavia more luxurious than the Scala.
Skoda has not yet revealed the exact date for the unveiling of its new Octavia. We have a feeling that will not debut before November, after the introduction of the eighth-generation Golf by Volkswagen.