This Škoda’s just Superb
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Czech maker is out to impress, even with an umbrella in the back door, writes MARK HINCHLIFFE.
Czech car company Škoda is expecting to lift its profile over the next year with the launch of its new flagship Superb liftback sedan. That will be followed by a wagon version and an Octavia facelift early next year, with a new compact SUV midyear.
Škoda Australia head Matthew Wiesner admits it was a one-car company in need of more models.
“We haven’t devoted a lot of time to the Roomster so we’ve basically been an Octavia car company,” he has told the launch of the Superb
in Sydney.
“It’s a hell of a car, based on the value, innovation and technology. You would be well challenged to find something with such a strong combination.”
Mr Wiesner says the main challenge was brand awareness. He says that in the 18 months since Škoda relaunched in Australia, customer awareness of the brand as a car company has increased from about 40 to 60 per cent, Roy Morgan research shows.
The Superb will help “mature” and stretch the brand with its appeal to private buyers, user-choosers and government and corporate fleets.
“Our customers for the Superb are large car users and from corporate and semi-government,” he says. “They can stick to a large car and still get a diesel.”
The Superb comes in five models with VW-sourced petrol and diesel powerplants, all with direct fuel injection.
The base-model 1.8-litre TSI costs $42,990 and comes standard with ESP, dual zone airconditioning, six-CD sound system with touchscreen and SD memory card, tyre pressure monitors, cruise control, rear parking sensors, self-retracting wing mirrors and fog lamps.
The same engine also is featured in the Elegance model costing $45,990 and adding adaptive Bi-Xenon headlights, alarm system, electronic driver’s seat and upgraded 10-speaker sound system.
The two-litre turbodiesel engine also is available in the Ambition ($45,990) and Elegance ($48,990) variants.
The top-of-the-range 3.6-litre V6 petrol comes in Elegance trim only with Haldex all-wheel drive and costs $56,990.
Mr Wiesner will not speculate on sales figures but the company has about 100 in the country, with orders “in the teens”.
He says a wagon version will arrive in early 2010 with the same trim and engine configurations. He will not confirm a sporty RS version.
Mr Wiesner says the car will be competing against Australian large cars, Japanese medium-sized cars and fellow European models.
The Superb’s distinguishing traits are its diesel engine models and its patented “TwinDoor” two-part hinged liftback boot.
At the flick of a switch on the electro-mechanical lock, the tailgate can act like a normal boot or a large hatchback, revealing an enormous 565-litre, flat-floored, lush-carpeted cargo area that is bigger than the Ford Falcon boot.
Under the floor is a full-size spare in the front-wheel-drive models and a space saver in the AWD.
Superb also is distinguished by a host of other surprising innovations and quirky technological features.
These include headlights that change focal point and spread according to speed and weather conditions (standard in Elegance), fog lamps that automatically light up corners at slow speeds, a rain braking system that dries the discs by bringing the pads into gentle contact with the discs every 3km for the three seconds, and nine airbags, including a knee airbag.
Options include an affordable self-parking function ($890) and a solar-powered sunroof ($2290) which circulates cabin air to keep the car cool while it is parked in the sun.
There even is an umbrella in the rear door; the sort of feature you expect in a Rolls-Royce, not in a medium-sized passenger car.