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Skoda Octavia Scout on Australian hiatus

The high-riding AWD Skoda Octavia Scout won't be joining the rest of the newly updated Octavia range any time soon, unless enough fans out there stamp their feet.


For now, the higher-riding and slightly rugged crossover cousin to the Volkswagen Golf Alltrack will make way for the new Kodiaq crossover in the Czech brand's small dealer network.

The rationale? Demand is low - its 341 sales in 2016 made it the company's lowest seller, albeit by a tiny margin - and the small brand needs to focus its limited resources on core cars.

"We're not conclusively ruling this out, if the customer base demands the upgraded Scout we will look at getting it," company spokesman Paul Pottinger told us.

"But our feeling that a lot of that customer base will be more than satisfied by the Kodiaq [launching at the start of June]."

The Octavia Scout range kicked off at a very sharp $35,990 drive-away for the manual, but the equivalent 132TSI with DSG was only $4000 cheaper than the bigger, roomier and more modern Kodiaq.

Pottinger also said the Karoq, which is essentially Skoda's version of the Tiguan medium SUV that'll replace the Yeti in April 2018, would also more than fill the void. Eventually.

"But we listen to the customers, they're a very opinionated bunch and that's what makes them Skoda customers," Pottinger added.

"If they want the Scout back, we will look at getting the Scout back. But we just aren't seeing it at the moment."

Pictured: Disguised Skoda Karoq undergoing testing. 

The decision makes some sense, though 341 sales in 2016 (and 437 in 2015) is a sizeable chunk for a tiny brand like Skoda, and we'd imagine there are some loyalists who'd rather buy a used one than get into a Kodiaq. Are we right?

The good news is that Volkswagen this week slashed the price of entry for the Golf Alltrack 132TSI wutgh AWD to $34,490 by adding a new base variant in the updated Mk7.5 range.

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