The Chinese love chauffeur-driven vehicles and they are trending in China as Jio was in India back when it was launched. Hence, to keep up with the rage and the trend around chauffeur-driven vehicles, Czech automaker Skoda has introduced its Octavia Pro in China which is essentially a long-wheelbase version of the standard Octavia. The Octavia Pro, for the record, is based on the 4th-generation Octavia and to differentiate it from the stock car, it has been given a few sporty exterior updates in addition to the obvious increment in dimensions.
More details
As the biggest and perhaps the most important change in the context of being a chauffeur-driven vehicle is the increase in dimensions, let’s start with the same. The Octavia Pro now gets a wheelbase that spans 2730mm, up 44mm from the wheelbase on the standard Octavia.
The overall length also, as a direct result of the increase in wheelbase, is now up by 64mm and stands at 4753mm, which is slightly less than the Skoda Superb, if we compare.
On the exterior side, certain elements have been added to make it look different but all those might prove to be far too subtle for an untrained eye to notice. Anyway, it gets 18” alloys, blacked-out ORVMs, contrasting roof, a sporty looking front bumper ( someone’s taking inspiration from the Octavia VRS ) and red accents on the inside and outside to uplift the sporty quotient. Despite all this, overall, it still looks like a standard Octavia.
On the inside, owing to the increment in the wheelbase, the space inside the cabin and especially for the rear occupants has increased. Also, red accents and details as aforementioned have been added to the inside as well to ooze sportiness. The dash is majorly the same as before and the Octavia Pro comes with a 12” touch infotainment system and an optional 10.25” digital instrument cluster and a heads-up display.
A 1.4L TSI petrol engine sits under the hood of the Octavia Pro kicking out 150PS of peak power and 250Nm of peak torque and is mated to a 7-speed DSG gearbox. Yup, this is the same 1.4L unit that shouldered duties on the VW Jetta and the previous-gen Octavia. Skoda is expected to launch the 4th-gen standard Octavia in India sometime in 2021 and it most certainly will take on the Hyundai Elantra in the INR 20 lakh segment.