The much-awaited Skoda Octavia in its fourth-generation was already supposed to be on the Indian roads by now. However, due to the wretched pandemic, the launch was postponed. Skoda Auto India now has a new timeline for us. The launch of the Octavia sedan will happen in June 2021, with immediate deliveries. This was revealed by Zac Hollis, Director at Skoda Auto India, in his response to a Twitter user who was asking about the launch date of the product. This particular car was revealed globally almost two years ago. The Indian market, at present, is not so executive sedan friendly. This segment currently only has the Hyundai Elantra (petrol/diesel, manual/automatic) on sale. The Honda Civic’s India innings came to an abrupt end a couple of months ago. Skoda will bring in only turbo petrol Octavias to the Indian car market. The Czech manufacturer no longer makes diesel engines in India.
We will now launch the new Octavia next month. The exact format of the launch is in discussion.
— Zac Hollis (@Zac_Hollis_) May 19, 2021
Zac also provided an update on the compact Skoda Karoq SUV. He replied to one Twitter user saying that for the Karoq SUV in India, there are no further plans. The focus will be on the smaller Kushaq SUV. Zac also said that there are no plans for the Skoda Rapid CNG in India. The Rapid CNG was spotted testing a few months ago in Pune and this led to speculations that the model could be headed for an Indian launch. Globally, Skoda does offer CNG powertrains for its cars and given the lower running costs, India does seem like an apt market for the same.
There are no current plans for further Karoq in India. We will focus on Kushaq, which will be in showrooms in July.
— Zac Hollis (@Zac_Hollis_) May 18, 2021
There are no plans for Rapid CNG in India.
— Zac Hollis (@Zac_Hollis_) May 19, 2021
