Skoda Octavia 1.6TDI SE

What is it?

Good question! This all-new version of Skoda’s stalwart mid-ranger challenges a lot of the traditional assumptions made by company car drivers about the categories and sizes of cars that suit their needs, and the cars that typically fit into them.

Because the new Skoda Octavia smacks eerily of Dr Who’s Tardis.

Alisdair Stewart, Skoda’s UK brand director and effective CEO, insists that in terms of market positioning, this third-generation Octavia’s opposition comes from cars like Vauxhall’s Astra and  Ford’s Focus, as well as others more closely aligned price-wise,  such as  a well-specified version of Kia’s remarkably good Ce’ed.

But he could equally have stood on the launch stage and claimed, without blushing, rivalry to cars a class further up, such as Vauxhall’s Insignia, VW’s Passat and the Ford Mondeo.

Two burly, 6 feet two-inch motoring hacks can sit one behind the other on the driver’s side, with both not only having plenty of legroom  but the rear seat passenger entirely untroubled by headroom problems. Boot space is actually marginally bigger than a Mondeo’s.

Result? Time to shift perceptions about what is achievable by good design in respect of interior space and how large a car need to be to accommodate it.

The Skoda Octavia goes on sale in the UK from March 16, with on-road, pre-options prices starting at £15,990 for the base 104bhp, 1.2TSI petrol, six-speed manual ‘S’, rising to £23,240 for the bells and whistle “Elegance” 150bhp, 2 litre TDI turbodiesel with seven-speed DSG semi-automatic gearbox. A second petrol engine will be available in the UK, a 1.4 litre TSl with 140bhp.

Of particular interest to SME business users, a “GreenLine” model with a number of economy-optimising features will arrive towards the end of the year with CO₂ emissions of just 89 g/km and fuel consumption of 83mpg.

What’s hot

• Unrivalled interior space…
• …within compact overall dimensions
• Build quality borders premium
• Scores well on refinement
• Sharp, elegant styling
• Rides and corners well without overt sportiness
• Much useful but mainly optional technology
• “Simply clever” convenience touches like inbuilt ice scraper
• Super-economy and sports models to come

What’s not

• Steering slightly woolly around dead ahead
• Diesels mildly strained at max revs

The Business Car Manager Verdict

The Octavia manages to avoid any of the standard boxes that the industry uses to categorise the market – especially the company car market.

It’s a fair bit bigger than the outgoing Octavia (though a remarkable 102kg lighter), and it has more visual presence than something like an Astra. But it’s both shorter and lighter than cars that fit in the Insignia box.

It is, at least in terms of size, in a class of its own.

Cars like Citroen’s Berlingo have achieved remarkable interior spaciousness before now, but even their greatest fans would admit that they pay a heavy aesthetic price. The Skoda does not.

Though a hatch, in appearance it looks like a sleekly styled saloon in comparison with which most hatchback rivals come a poor second. And it contrives this while sacrificing nothing in terms of bootspace. With the seats down, it’s like a van in the back.

Inside, there is a real sense of premium style ­– it reminded this writer of the 3 Series BMW – about the crisp design of the dash and instruments, especially in lighter colours. On some of the wicked roads in southern Portugal, it also felt extremely well screwed together.

The main subject of BCM’s road test, the 104bhp, 1.6 TDl in middle-range ‘SE’ trim with five-speed manual gearbox, achieves emissions dipping just under the 100 g/km CO2 benchmark. Starting at £19,240, it is also sharply priced.

It makes a fine package,  with well-judged spring and damper settings  ironing out bumpy roads with relative ease. It corners crisply and with none of the slightly nose-heavy, responses blunting progress of the smaller Skoda Rapid.

Only a slight vagueness of the electric power steering around dead ahead and use of the very top end of the rev range provide reminders that it is neither a sports hatch nor quite up to VW group’s premium brands in terms of ultimate refinement.

The 1.6 diesel is likely to be lusty enough for the majority of business users, without being a fireball, but for those requiring more performance the 150bhp 2 litre diesel provides it with no great penalty in terms of handling or refinement. Both versions come with the £1,300 option of VW group’s 7-speed DSG semi-automatic gearbox. There is a small CO₂ penalty, taking the 1.6 to 102g/km. But it works so well many business users will find it tempting.

Add in some of the thoughtful little convenience touches under what Skoda likes to call its “simply clever”  philosophy – among them ice scraper integrated in the filler cap, iPod holder, double-sided boot floor covering, sunglasses-holders and more storage nooks and crannies then Gringot’s Bank – and the Octavia has more than mere space appeal. Optional technology packages are extensive, too, including parking assist, collision-avoidance braking, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control.

Skoda’s group chief executive, Winfried Vahland, insisted to BCM  that the new Octavia has the potential to become one of the world’s top ten best-selling cars. “It’s the quintessential Skoda; the heart and icon of the brand.”

CEOs are paid to be upbeat about their companies’ products. Vahland’s optimism might just turn out to be not too misplaced.

Skoda Octavia 1.6TDI SE – the low down…

…and what it costs