Skoda Octavia Scout could be out

The arrival of a series of new Skoda SUVs over the next few years has put the future of the high-riding Octavia Scout crossover wagon in Australia in serious doubt.

Skoda launched the Kodiaq seven-seat SUV this week, will follow up with the smaller Karoq five-seater early in 2018 and is also expected to add a BMW X4-style Kodiaq coupe and compact Mazda CX-3 competitor by the end of the decade.

Each of those models is expected to produce multiple variants. For instance, the Kodiaq will add a turbo-diesel engine before the end of the year, while RS, Scout and SportLine variants are also strong possibilities.

The Karoq should come in both petrol and diesel variants and potentially both front and all-wheel drive.

That means the Octavia Scout, which has been Skoda’s 4x4 stalwart in this country since it first launched in 2008, may now be judged superfluous to requirements.

Along with the Octavia, the Scout was facelifted late last year and was slated for a launch in Australia in the second half of this year.

However, while the forthcoming Octavia RS high-performance models are being promoted on the company’s public website, there is no sign of the Scout.

Skoda Australia boss Michael Irmer told motoring.com.au at this week’s Kodiaq launch confirmed the jury was out on the future of Subaru Outback rival in Australia.

“At the moment I would say the chances of getting the Scout are not certain because I think we build all the essentials into the car [Octavia] as it is,” he said.

“The question is how big is the opportunity left when we have much more off-road offering than we used to.

“We will consider it. It is no ‘no’ at the moment, but there is also no ‘yes’ at the moment -- it is under evaluation.”

Most recently, Skoda has sold two variants of the Scout in Australia, the $33,290 110TDI and the $38,990 132TSI.

According to VFACTS official figures, just 31 Scouts have been registered in Australia in 2017 compared to 125 in the same period of 2016 as supply of the pre-facelift models has dried up.

“What I am saying is how much incremental business will give us a Scout variant of Octavia? That is what we are looking at,” Irmer added.

“There needs to be enough incremental value because any additional model in the line-up increases your complexity in the supply chain and that comes at a cost to the consumer.

“There is a number of advantages to the customer of a lean line-up ... there is a trade-off there and we have to consider the trade-off against the benefits.”