New Skoda “Roomster” spy photos

Even though its body is obscured by a disguise that dresses the car from head to toe, the prototype that was spotted by our spies is clearly a prototype for a Skoda van or van-based people mover, as it sports both temporary Czech Republic plates and a version of Skoda's corporate grille up front.

It's pretty clear, as well, that whatever this new vehicle is, it will be very closely related to the latest Volkswagen Caddy.

The prototype seen here has a barn-door type opening at the rear and uses the larger wing mirrors from the cargo-carrying versions of the Caddy. Despite the fact that it has a track for a sliding side door, this vehicle does not feature any rear door handles.

It's not known if this new Skoda van/people mover will carry forward the oversized rear passenger windows, which were such a distinctive part of the original Roomster's design.

Given the modest sales of the original Roomster, which was discontinued twice in Australia, the new vehicle may only be differentiated from its Volkswagen relation by an altered front-end design and revised tail-lights.

The latest-generation Caddy was unveiled earlier this year, and is based on the company's older PQ35 platform, rather than the increasingly ubiquitous MQB front- and all-wheel drive component matrix.