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NEWS
Six new Skodas this year
Skoda to launch a new model almost every two months in 2013, starting with a new OctaviaSkoda has revealed plans to launch a new model almost every second month this year, beginning with the redesigned Octavia.
Fresh from launching a fresh Roomster, new Fabia RS, more Yeti variants and the Scout diesel auto in Australia in 2012, the Czech Volkswagen brand has now confirmed it will stage the European launch of the all-new Rapid liftback in January, the redesigned Octavia liftback in March and the new Octavia wagon in June.
Skoda Australia will kick off the year by releasing the Rapid in March, the Citigo micro-car in May and both the new Octavia sedan and wagon
by July.
by July.
While the Citigo is all but identical to Volkswagen’s up! and will be available Down Under in both three and five-door body styles priced from under $14,000, the larger third-generation Octavia made its global premiere at the Paris show last September and will arrive here in both five-door liftback and wagon body styles.
Three other new Skoda models also appear under wraps in an image posted by Skoda on its Facebook page, listed for European release in August, October and December.
The first of these is likely to be the new Octavia RS, which is expected to debut at the Geneva motor show in March before hitting Australian showrooms around October, although the new-generation Octavia RS has already been seen in official images leaked last month.
The second should be the Rapid ‘Spaceback’ hatch, which is expected to make its world debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September and is earmarked for launch here in early 2014, powered by the same petrol and diesel engines as the Rapid sedan and also priced from about $20,000 here. There will be no Rapid wagon.
While a facelifted Superb and the more rugged Superb Outdoor variant are due for local release in September, they are likely to bring only minor cosmetic upgrades, including the new Skoda logo first seen on the Citigo and also expected to grace updated MY13 versions of the Czech brand’s Fabia and Roomster.
The identity of the third new Skoda model to be launched in 2013 therefore remains unknown, with some media reports speculating it will be a facelifted version of the existing Yeti crossover, which is not due on sale in Australia until late 2014.
However, judging by its taller roof height, we believe the sixth and final new model Skoda has committed to releasing this year will be the second-generation Octavia Scout, which is due Down Under in early 2014.
Skoda said at the global launch of the Rapid in July that it will release a new or refreshed model every six months on average from now on, and the rollout is known to include redesigned Fabia and Suberb models in 2015, as well as Skoda’s first seven-seat SUV.
The latter is likely to be based on an all-new seven-seat SUV – based on the same new MQB platform that will underpin the MkIII ‘A7’ Octavia and positioned between the Tiguan and Touareg - to be revealed by parent company Volkswagen at next week’s Detroit show.
What’s coming from Skoda Australia:
Rapid liftback – March
Citigo – May
Mk3 Octavia liftback and wagon – July
Superb facelift and Outdoor – September
Octavia RS – October
Rapid Spaceback – Early 2014
Mk2 Octavia Scout – Early 2014
Yeti facelift – Late 2014
Mk3 Fabia – 2015
Mk4 Superb – 2015
New seven-seat SUV – 2015
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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