Face-lifted Skoda Octavia revealed

Words by Yash Sunil

Skoda revealed the face-lifted Octavia which has received subtle changes in terms of the design as well as some additions on the inside.

The old Octavia had a single unit headlight whereas the new updated sedan comes with a dual headlight unit with integrated LED headlamps. The car also gets a new reworked split grille. The current Octavia comes with 2 petrol engines in India, the 1.4-litreTSI and the 1.8-litre TSI which make 148bhp and 250Nm and 178bhp and 250Nm of torque, respectively. While the 2.0-litreTDI engine makes 140bhp and 320Nm of torque.

There are 4 new infotainment systems on offer Swing, Bolero, Amundsen and the top of the line Columbus which comes with a 9.2-inch display with is completely touchscreen and WLAN hotspot support with a sim-card slot for LTE support, which have been recently introduced on the Kodiaq. The boot capacity of the sedan is 590 litres and the rear seats fold down to increase it to 1580 litres. Also carried over from the Kodiaq is the trailer assist feature that takes over the steering wheel when the car is being parked. Additionally, Skoda has added new radar based monitoring systems, such as a pedestrian protection system that automatically applies brakes in case of an emergency situation. The system also detects traffic coming in from behind and alerts the driver in case of any out-of-sight objects. The Octavia also comes with a few more gadgets like customizable keys, and a heated steering wheel and a foldable table in the rear, which may not be brought in to India.

The Octavia currently goes up against the likes of the VW Jetta, the Hyundai Elantra, the Toyota Corolla Altis and the Chevrolet Cruze. The face lifted Skoda Octavia will be launched globally by the year end and should come to India by end of 2017.