Big news – and we mean big – in the form of an all-new Skoda Superb, unveiled at a preview evening in Prague, Czech Republic. This is a car expected to do incredibly well in the fleet market judging by its success last time around, where company cars out-sold private by a ratio of 7:3.
Size matters
But how big are we talking here? There’s a massive amount of room in the cabin – enough for four adults to stretch out in consummate comfort – and a 650-litre boot dwarfs every other competitor in the market by quite some margin. This car is a rival to Vauxhall’s Insignia and the Ford Mondeo, but neither can hold a candle to the Skoda when it comes to outright roominess.
And if the previous version is anything to go by, it’ll be seriously comfortable too. Skoda will even be offering adaptive suspension on this iteration, which should further improve both ride and handling.
It’s going to be available as either hatchback or estate, the latter expected to make up the majority of sales.
Set of efficient engines
The firm’s flagship has been totally revised for 2015, and with a new set of engines there are some very interesting developments for company car drivers. The headline act is a Greenline version set to be launched towards the fourth quarter of this year which will return CO2 emissions of just 95g/km – a figure so low for a conventional, non-hybrid car of this size it beggars belief.
In fact, it’s fair to say that all of the diesel Superbs are going to be very efficient. Other than the high-performance 276bhp 4×4 model (which isn’t going to sell very well in the UK), there isn’t a version which emits more than 118g/km and even the petrol-powered 1.4-litre only emits a maximum of 114g/km thanks to clever cylinder deactivation technology, which shuts down two of its four cylinders to dramatically improve efficiency.
For the UK market we’re expecting a range of five engines. There’s a 1.6-litre diesel along with a 2-litre in two power outputs – the 148bhp is expected to be the most popular, while there’s a 188bhp version too. All three can be coupled with either six-speed manual or automatic ‘DSG’ gearboxes – the 1.6 gets a seven-speed while the others get a six-speed.
Fuel economy ranges from 62 to 72.4mpg depending on the engine and gearbox combination.
Familiar equipment levels
We’re expecting a quartet of trim levels when the car is officially launched in the UK in September, and they follow the pattern set by other Skoda models such as the Fabia Estate. With that in mind, expect S, SE and SE-L along with a range-topping L&K (Laurin and Klement) version.
Final specifications and pricing have yet to be set at this point, but expect the new Superb to undercut the VW Passat – a car which shares many of its underpinnings. With that in mind, it’s a fair assumption that Superb pricing may start around the £20,000 mark.
We’ll get more information when the car is publically unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next month, and we’re expecting our first drive to occur sometime in April. Keep an eye out for the full Skoda Superb review for our comprehensive evaluation.
