Skoda won’t turn its back on passenger models

Skoda has revealed it has no plans to drop traditional passenger cars from its line-up, despite the market’s headlong rush towards SUVs and electrification.

In an interview with British magazine Autocar, Skoda sales and marketing boss Martin Jahn confirmed that neither the Skoda Octavia nor Skoda Superb were going anywhere any time soon.

“We’re committed to the needs of our customers,” he said.

“In the future, we will always try to find shapes and body styles that our customers are expecting.

“I think that we will continue with the range of cars of Octavia and Superb. We still see a need for these cars, so they will continue for some time.”

Electrification has already come to Skoda’s mid-size and large liftback sedans and wagons in the form of ‘iV’ plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants, not to mention the high-performance Octavia iVRS sold overseas.

And as well as hatchbacks like the Fabia and Scala, Skoda now has a full range of SUVs including the Kamiq, Karoq and Kodiaq.

Beyond the lifecycles of those models though, Jahn said Skoda would continue to cater to both SUV and passenger car customers alike, and even hinted at an electric successor for the Octavia.

“We will be looking at bringing a car similar to Octavia, a car with a similar purpose: for people who are a bit more conservative, who don’t want an SUV, or for company fleets who don’t want to have SUVs but want different body shapes,” he said.

“The Combi [wagon] shape was very successful for Skoda, and this shape defines Skoda in a way.

“This is the way we will be looking at new electric cars. Similar to today, it will be predominantly SUV but there will be other shapes.”

At least three new battery-electric Skoda models are slated to launch between now and the end of the decade; all of which are tipped to be smaller than the Enyaq electric SUV and based on preceding Volkswagen models.

Autocar speculates that in addition to the three confirmed crossovers, Skoda could cook up its own version of the upcoming Volkswagen ‘Aero-B’ electric sedan – pegged as an electric Passat alternative and due in 2023 – as an electric successor for the Superb.

Thanks to the modular nature of Volkswagen’s MEB EV platform, it wouldn’t be difficult for the Czech brand to produce an electric Octavia successor with its own unique design.

The new Skoda Fabia hatch (pictured) goes on sale in Australia in the first half of 2022.