SPY PICS: Skoda Octavia RS prototype crash

What’s worse than having a bingle in your brand new car?

Well, it could be a brand new, yet-to-debut prototype – like this Skoda Octavia RS wagon.

Understood to be packing a more potent version of the current car's turbocharged 2.0-litre unit (180kW/370Nm), expected to crank out more than 190kW, the new model will also benefit from upratedf suspension and brakes - not that it helped here.

The performance wagon, which has previously been spotted testing in lower-spec liftback and wagon form, was caught on camera by spy photographers this week after reportedly having a head-on collision with an Opel Zafira in Europe.

According to reports out of Europe, the driver of the Zafira wasn’t paying attention to the road during a lane change, resulting in the collision.

Both drivers are said to be fine, but the Skoda’s front-end looks pretty battered sitting on the back of a tilt-tray, even cloaked by a sheet.

The fourth-generation Octavia, set to use the same MQB platform that underpins Volkswagen’s next Golf, T-Cross and T-Roc, is tipped to be unveiled by the end of the year, with the RS not due until around 2021.

Some of the new bits the new-generation Skoda Octavia will bring to the table include some of the goodies coming to the new Mk8 VW Golf, including a bigger, bolder infotainment screen and a new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster on high-end models like the RS, with customisable speedo, tacho, maps and so on.