Next-gen Skoda Octavia RS won't be launched in India before late-2021
Skoda is yet to relaunch the outgoing Octavia RS in India, but it has already started talking about bringing the next-gen Octavia RS here. The company won't be able to launch the all-new model to our market before the end of 2021.
The new generation Skoda Octavia that was unveiled in November last year will be launched in India as early as the end of this year. The next-gen Skoda Octavia RS based on it will likely be in showrooms internationally in the second half of this year. This model will take at least a year to reach our shores, and that's a development coming straight from Zac Hollis, Director – Sales, Service & Marketing, Skoda Auto India.
The next-gen Skoda Octavia RS will likely be sold with 2.0L TSI petrol and 2.0L TDI diesel engines that will offer better performance than those of the outgoing model. For reference, the old model's petrol mill was introduced in 230 PS/350 Nm version and then upgraded to 245 PS/370 Nm version. The diesel mill of the same develops 184 PS and 380 Nm of torque. The next-gen Skoda Octavia RS will be available with a plug-in hybrid system as well, packing a 1.4L TSI petrol engine and an electric motor together.
The 2.0L petrol engine will likely deliver around 300 PS and 400 PS and sit at the top of the range with respect to performance. The plug-in hybrid variant should provide a fine middle-ground between the performance of the petrol and the lower cost of ownership of the diesel, with CO2 emissions and the resultant taxes levied on a vehicle being an important part of purchase decision now.
Also Read: From Czech Republic to India: The journey of Skoda’s best-seller Octavia
The current-gen Skoda Octavia RS was initially brought to India as a CKD import and localise, which helped pricing it very attractively. Now, it's going to be relaunched as a CBU import at Auto Expo, which will make it very pricey. The next-gen model, too, will likely be a pricey CBU import, at least initially. In other recent developments, Skoda has revealed its line-up for Auto Expo 2020, and you can read about it in our dedicated report here.