Skoda "exploring all powertrain options" for radical next-gen Octavia

Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer says that the production version of the Vision O estate concept will be offered primarily as an electric vehicle – but that the firm “will explore all options” in terms of other powertrain options if regulations allow.

The new model is due to arrive early in the next decade, and while the Czech firm has given no technical details and only referred to it as electrified, the production version will be the first Skoda to use the Volkswagen Group’s new SSP platform.

While that is primarily an electric platform, it has designed to be highly flexible and the VW Group has confirmed that it will at least be able to accept a range-extender powertrain - as demonstrated by the Cupra Tindaya concept. 

Asked by Autocar why the firm showed the Vision O at least five years before a production version, Zellmer joked: “It’s because you guys kept on pestering us about what’s happening with the estate BEV.”

But he added: “We also needed an answer for that for ourselves. We've sold millions of Octavias and Superbs, and that puts an obligation in your business plan.”

Skoda first previewed an electric estate three years ago, which was due to sit on the current MEB platform, but eventually postponed the project. Zellmer said that was because of the use case for an estate: “For long-distance driving you need autonomous functions in a car, and that will be easier to realise with a new platform.”

Asked whether Skoda would offer other powertrains beyond an EV for the next-gen Octavia, Zellmer noted that the speed of the electric transition “has not materialised” at the speed expected. He added: “We have seen different drivetrains coming in, especially plug-in hybrids.

“Give us some time to answer those questions: with the next platform, we want to keep all avenues open in terms of what is feasible and complexity, and in terms of regulation. The current governmental direction in the EU [and UK] is that in 2035 it's the end of combustion engines, which would mean [the new model is] BEV-only.

"But we've learned we need to keep avenues open and we need to do what our customers want. The first rule of any business is that if you do what your customers want you will be successful.”

Zellmer said that another major challenge that needs to be addressed in the years before the Vision O goes into production is affordability. He said that ensuring the model can be priced similar to the existing combustion car “is one of the highest objectives we have now,  because we need to stay in that price bracket or else we're going to shock people and they'll go somewhere else.”