Only yesterday we reported that the 2013 Skoda Octavia has been spotted testing in Bangalore. Skoda has high hopes with the new generation Octavia and the upcoming car is looking all set to take the entry D segment of our car market by storm.
Just a day after the car was spotted in Bangalore, Topgear.com has come up with a pic of the new Octy being tested in Mumbai. The new Octavia was spotted testing along with the VW Golf Mk7 hatchback that has earlier been spotted in India.
While it is pretty much for sure that the new Octavia is headed to India, the reason for the new Golf testing on Indian roads is unknown to all. An easy guess would be that the new Golf is undergoing Global testing in India.
Underpinning the new Octavia is the much publicized Volkswagen MQB platform. The MQB platform will underpin quite a few modern-day Volkswagen group cars.
There is a section of auto industry watchers in India who are of the belied that the 2013 Octavia will be sold alongside the Laura (the last gen Octavia) and this might continue until Skoda India comes up with entry level variants of the new Octy for completely replacing the Laura. It may be noted that the sales of current Laura have already taken a hit with the launch of the new Elantra and the Cruze.
The 2013 Octavia is considerably larger than the Laura and various international auto publications are of the opinion that the new car is almost as big as the Superb flagship sedan. This means that the new Octavia would be half a shoe size larger than the Chevrolet Cruze, the new Hyundai Elantra and the Volkswagen Jetta.
The engine options for the 2013 Octavia are likely to be carried over from the current car would get a 1.8 TSI turbocharged petrol engine and a 2.0 TDI turbocharged diesel engine. Skoda India might also add an entry level 1.6 Liter TDI turbo diesel engine variant to keep the costs under check.
It is pretty much for sure that the new Octavia will be costlier than the Laura but on the same time, the car might come across as a much more value for money proposition due to its larger size, newer technology and a bigger equipment list.
Source: Topgear.com
Today spotted the same on pune Mumbai expressway
Need to share some of the photos