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2015 Skoda Superb to up the style and power stakes

The next-generation 2015 Skoda Superb to premiere publicly at the Geneva motor show in March 2015 will be a more stylish, upmarket and powerful proposition than the current version.


The current Skoda range-topper, available as a liftback and a wagon, offers acres of cabin space for a budget price, but has always been more about substance than style. Skoda believes the new, as-yet-unseen model should offer both, to a degree. 

As such, the third generation of the ‘modern’ Superb — Skoda used the badge in the 1930s and 1940s before it went dormant and was dusted off at the end of 2001 — will turn heads, offer even more cabin space and will headline the brand’s push to become more stylish with its wares.

Following in the wheel tracks of the new Fabia, the Superb — penned by a team led by head designer Jozef Kabaň — will be lower and wider than before, with more interesting sculpting and metal variances along the side of the car than the slab-sided current model. 

In fact, the car will take strong cues from the Vision C concept previewed in Geneva this year (pictured above and top), with its dynamic bonnet character lines and contour lines along the bottom of the doors, plus its racier headlights and sleeker overall profile. 

Under this new bonnet will sit the fettled 140kW and circa-400Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel that premieres in the new Volkswagen Passat, as well as a familiar version of the EA888 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine from the Golf R, Audi S3 and new Passat, pumping out 206kW/380Nm of power, matched at least optionally to an AWD driveline.

This engine will replace the culled 191kW/350Nm 3.6-litre V6 engine that falls shy of European emissions targets. A 132kW/280Nm 132TSI is likely to be offered as well, or potentially a version with the Octavia RS/Golf GTI’s 162kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol. 

Once again, there will be liftback and wagon versions offered, both of which will offer more space for cargo and passengers alike. The new car is unlikely to be longer — it should be around 4800mm — but it will offer more shoulder space. 

According to our Skoda source, the new Superb shares the same modular MQB architecture as the new Passat — remember, not all MQB formats are the same, it is an adjustable format — meaning it will be some degree wider than the current car, which is closer in relation to the Golf, believe it or not. 

Speaking separately with CarAdvice last week in Paris, Skoda CEO Winfried Vahland said injecting emotion into design was critical for the company, though also said it had to maintain its core tenets of practicality and value (at least in Europe, though Australian prices are somewhat more comparable to VW). 

“I guess we feel and we see it’s successful that… we stand for what we are. Functionality, practicality and good value. But to put some pepper and salt into the car is always good, to put some more emotions in…,” he said.

“The message, stay with what you are but put some more emotions into it, it’s working. Fabia is the first example and the next will be the Superb that shows a full exploration of emotions and practicability.”

In Australia, where we would suggest the new Superb should launch in either very late 2015 or perhaps early 2016 if we get on the tail end of the global rollout as we often do, the big Skoda with acres of legroom could potentially fill a gap that will be left in the market when the spacious Holden Caprice dies in 2017 at the end of local production.

More information on the new Superb will no doubt find its way into the public domain as the Geneva show creeps closer. However, do you think Skoda needs to sex up its image, or do you like the unique and simple style it uses at present? 

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