Skoda electrifies Octavia to boost sales to business fleets

PRAGUE – Skoda expects 30 percent of sales of its latest-generation Octavia to be electrified versions.

The Octavia will have mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions for the first time to enhance the compact car’s appeal to its core business customers because of their lower CO2 emissions and better fuel economy.

Sales to business fleets account for about 65 percent of the Octavia’s volume in Europe.

The Octavia is Skoda’s "icon," CEO Bernhard Maier said at the unveiling of the fourth generation of the car in Prague on Monday. Maier expects the Octavia to remain Skoda’s best-selling model.

The Octavia accounts for one-fortieth of exports from the Czech Republic. The car’s importance to the Czech economy was underlined by the presence of the country’s prime minister, Andrej Babis, at the unveiling.

Skoda sales and marketing chief Alain Favey said the addition of hybrid versions will be a key driver of future sales. “Company car drivers are a very important part of the business for us and so we are happy to have a car with real arguments in its favor, not only in terms of price but also in CO2 emissions and driver assistance,” Favey said.

The hybrid drivetrains will be available for the hatchback and station wagon variants.

The two mild hybrids use 1.0- and 1.5-liter gasoline engines and add a 48-volt belt-driven starter motor.

Skoda expects these versions to account for 15 percent to 20 percent of Octavia sales in Europe, according to the automaker’s product boss for the Octavia and SUVs, Frantisek Drabek.

The plug-in hybrid model uses a 1.4-liter gasoline engine mated to a 13 kilowatt-hour battery pack that is rated to give 55 km (34 miles) on the WLTP cycle. It will offer two power variants: a 201-hp model and a sportier 242-hp version.

The plug-in hybrids likely will account for about 10 percent of Octavia volumes, Drabek said.

A share of 10 percent for the plug-in hybrid would mean sales of about 22,000 units a year based on the Octavia’s 220,412 sales in Europe in 2018, according to figures from JATO Dynamics. 

The figure could be higher but the automaker has battery supply constraints so demand for Skoda’s newly launched Superb iV plug-in hybrid will influence the Octavia’s hybrid output.

“We have installed capacity for 10 percent but the response from the market is much higher so we will not be able to cover demand,” Drabek said.

Seven out of the Octavia’s 16 engines will have CO2 ratings below 100 grams per kilometer under the NEDC test cycle, appealing to fleet managers, Drabek said. “The demand will come from fleets. There are many companies with policies that call for cars below 100g/km of CO2,” he said.

The addition of hybrids will reduce sales of the Octavia’s diesel versions in Europe to between 40 percent and 45 percent from 50 percent now, Drabek said.

Skoda has given the Octavia hatchback a coupe-like look with a less prominent rear deck.

The company expects the changes to give the hatchback a bigger share of sales at around 40 percent compared with 60 percent for the wagon. The wagon currently accounts for 65 percent of Octavia sales. It is the best-selling wagon in Europe.

Compared with the previous-generation Octavia the new car “talks to both halves of your brain,” Skoda's head of design, Oliver Stefani, said.

“One side is functionality and the other is emotional. You always expect functionality from Skoda, but with this car we are starting to talk to your heart,” he said.

Examples include stretching the rear lights onto the tailgate on both the wagon and hatchback.

“It's more expensive but you gain a lot. It stretches the car and makes it more coupe-like seen from a distance,” Stefani added.

The Octavia is the first Skoda to have new camera-based safety features.

Its collision avoidance system helps the driver steer away from a potential crash, while an “exit warning” feature alerts drivers if they are about to open their door into the path of a cyclist or another vehicle.

Options include adaptive cruise control and 10-inch screens, including a virtual cockpit screen in front of the driver that can be configured to include information from the navigation system.

Other available technology includes matrix LED lights that reduce glare to oncoming cars by automatically switching off different zones within the lights, and a three-zone air conditioning system.

The new Octavia is built on the same Volkswagen Group MQB platform as the old model.

The wagon is 22mm longer and the hatchback is 19mm longer. Both have a length of 4689mm.

Rear knee room is generous at 78mm in the back seats.

The wagon’s trunk space grows by 30 liters to 640 liters. The hatchback’s cargo space increases 10 liters to 600 liters.

The Octavia will continue to be built in the Czech Republic and China. The Chinese market will not get the mild and plug-in hybrids.

The new Octavia will cost more than the current car but Skoda did not disclose pricing.

Christian Strube, head of technical development, said it will be more expensive because of the costs of meeting expensive regulatory requirements.