Volkswagen’s budget brand Skoda will gain a raft of new models in the next few years, CAR Online can reveal.
Leading the product expansion is an estate version of the new Superb which will cost less than a Passat wagon but offer more bootspace than a Mercedes E-class estate. Expect the big Superb in 2009.
We’ve also unearthed more details on the new Skoda Yeti crossover that also comes in 2009. It’s a funky looking faux-by-four with looks echoing the eponymous concept car of a few years back.
The Yeti will feature new bodywork and cabin architecture, but uses a host of VW group bitsa parts; like the first-gen Superb, this is a quick-fix model using end-of-line parts from around the VW empire.
It’s a tactic in vogue at Wolfsburg – Seat’s doing the same with its new Mondeo rival.
Skoda: the secret new MPV
The third secret new model from the expansionist Czech car maker is a new MPV. It’s a version of the soon-to-be upgraded Touran and the nameless Skoda is due in 2010.
What do we know about Skoda’s MPV? It has a longer rear overhang to make space for a third row of seats and sticks with conventionally hinged doors; Vauxhall/Opel in particular is favouring with its next-gen Meriva and Zafira people carriers.
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The only way is Up!
As if three new Skodas wasn’t enough, there will be a fourth, smaller model too. No surprises for guessing there will be a Czech Up.
The five-door micro-hatch will mix styling cues of a hatch and mini-MPV to differentiate it from the donor VW Up and a forthcoming, slightly sportier Seat version.
If you thought Skoda has come a long way already, it looks like the pace of change is about to increase once more. Those Skoda jokes are indeed a very distant memory…
Is Skoda on a stellar path? Or is this an expansion too far? Click ‘Add your comment’ and sound off