More tech, a sharper look for a now wagon-only model hampered by supply issues.

DOES it sound mean to suggest that Skoda New Zealand couldn’t have picked a better car to be in short supply than the one they’ve just landed?

Okay, maybe it does. So, some context.

Covid-19 is not making schedules it easy for car makers to keep to production. A world-wide shortage of computer semi-conductors has made a bad situation worse.

Skoda has pretty found a way to overcome the first situation; production is down, but is getting enough cars out to provision all its markets. The second situation? It hasn’t had too much impact on the products that have been achieving the strongest sales here. That’s the sports utilities, led by the Kodiaq.

But now they’re launching the Octavia medium car. Or, at least, trying to. This model is the first in Skoda-dom to take the VW Group’s latest computer-driven technology. It has control units that demand specific semi-conductors, not required by the make’s other cars. There’s no stockpile. There is a shortage. So, until more can be sourced, the supply chain is limited.

End result: Skoda has just nine cars for now. Forty more are on the water, set to arrive this month. Or maybe in May. Anyway, they’re all spoken for. Yes, the dealers have demonstrators, but they’re probably not going to sell them.

So, basically, it’s not going to be a common sight. But, then, even in the last few years, it hasn’t. More numbers: 250-300; 157. Respectively, the sales target for this year; actual registrations for the old model in 2020.

They’re a reminder that, these days, success is spelled SUV. That’s not the Octavia. It’s a road car and, so, in a niche. More now that before.

Previously, you could get Octavia as a wagon, in road-tuned and elevated off-seal format, and as a sedan/liftback (it was called the first, was more akin to the second). This time, just two road height wagons, both petrol and front-drive, an entry $47,990 Style with a 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre with eight-speed automatic (above) and a $57,990 RS with a 180kW/370Nm 2.0-litre (below).

Another quasi mud-plugger Scout is in the future and we’ll get a plug-in hybrid Octavia wagon next year. If you want the ‘other’ body shape – now determined by the factory to be a hatchback, by the distributor as a sedan - it’ll be special order.

So, anyway, in returning to the original point. Even with the Police contract having doubled its annual volume, Skoda’s not a huge involver: It’s aiming for 2200 registrations for just under two percent market share in 2021. In that context, the Octavia stands as being important – the brand has other models that achieve even less sales - yet not absolutely vital. So, if availability continues to be vexing … well, life could be worse, right. They could yet have opportunity to make up the numbers with the core cars that have much stronger appeal and appear more readily available.

This is the fourth generation Octavia. It bases heavily on the eight generation VW Golf that has just landed here. Same drivetrains in identical performance tune (the 2.0-litre is the one in the Golf GTI coming soon, the 1.4 in the Golfs here now), same gear selector; common driver assistance and infotainment features. That’s a positive.

If you want insight into Octavia’s qualities in this environment … sorry, can’t yet really say. Of those nine cars that’ve so far landed, just two were at the media event. Of those, one – a Style – was registered.

While this story figures in the ‘first drive’ section it’s here through virtue of a semantic. There was no driving programme, but I nonetheless was given opportunity to have a public road wheel time denied every other event attendee, in that I got to drive it from the event venue to Auckland airport … a distance of less than 2kms. Others would claim that as a ‘NZ first’ accomplishment. But I’ve driven the Golf and won’t be surprised if there’s driving similar driving feel. That’s a positive. The VW is pretty good.

Of course, it’s not a doppelganger. Skoda design is defiantly different, the brand has a reputation for delivering the best build quality in the VW Group, visually impressive materials and, of course, they always throw in unique ‘Simply Clever’ touches, though on that note, while there’s still an umbrella in the door and now a false floor in the boot, this is the first modern Skoda to lose the torch in the luggage area. As a Karoq owner who delights in having this feature, I feel need to start a petition.

As much as wagons have fallen from general public favour – to the point where the brand now has trouble cobbling up competitors for the usual ‘where we’re best’ evaluation – Skoda still keeps the faith. The Octavia makes a pretty good fist of putting up argument for why they shouldn’t be under-rated.

For one, the styling is attractive; sleek enough to warrant attention but with just the right blend of practical utility. It now looks much more like the Superb wagon (the model the Police have chosen) but in three-quarter scale.

This version measures 22mm longer than its predecessor, though the difference is mostly down to the design of the bumpers. The wheelbase remains unchanged on account of Skoda sticking with the same core architecture as the last model, but it is now wider by 15mm. The main benefit of that coming to the rear passengers in the form of better elbow room.

Luggage capacity at 640 litres is decent; 30 litres up on the old one but also just 40 litres more than what the Octavia hatchback we won’t see offers. Fold the rear seats down and that space increases to 1700 litres.

The Style is less ‘entry’ than before. It now achieves adaptive cruise control, full keyless entry including the power tailgate and wireless phone projection. It’s hoped his will broaden appeal to private buyers. The old car was emphatically fleet-first, with 70 percent of sales heading that way. As before, the RS is your sporty choice; bigger wheels, trendier interior trim and so on.

The digital instrument display is trendy and can be delivered with a colour head-up display that is a first in the car; in conjunction with the navigation, you can have turn-by-turn instructions delivered directly into your eye line. The HUD is an option, as are area view parking, front seats with massage control and three zone air con.

The 10-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment system is the same restricted to the top Golf here; it delivers a fresh look with a new operating system that is largely intuitive and now comes with a ‘hey Laura’ voice control. (The name is an oblique reference to Laurin and Klement, the company that provided Skoda with its start in the transport business in 1925).

All in all, it will likely prove itself as a very efficient package.