Skoda’s medium road car now in petrol-pure wagon format, no mention of hybrid.

ROLLOUT of the facelift Skoda Octavia has begun, but in two stages and with price increases.

Along with subtly massaged looks and a greater level of in-car technology comes a $6000 hike to stickers.

The mainstream 1.5-litre car - now simply called Octavia, having previously been called Octavia Style - is now a $58,990 experience, having previously cost $52,990, with the same 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine continuing. It’s on sale from now.

The more sporting RS arrives in February. It has gone from $61,990 to $67,990 and an RS Plus - which previously represented as the RS with a factory supplied plus package - climbs to $73,990. RS plus seems to contain the same enhancements, including leather and dynamic chassis control, that were box ticks with the previous plus package.

The RS car has the same 2.0-litre turbo petrol before, but power elevates from 180kW to 195kW. Torque remains at 370Nm.

Skoda NZ has made no mention of the iV hybrid model it previously delivered in Style and RS formats, leading to speculation that choice has been dropped. It enabled limited electric-only driving and priced at $71,990 and $76,990 in the old range.

The mid-life styling refresh delivers revised LED lamp clusters fore and aft. There are discreet changes to the bumpers, plus a selection of new alloy wheel designs.

The interior revision delivers a new infotainment system, presented on a large 13-inch floating touchscreen in the centre of the dash in the RS.

The smartphone charging pad is uprated to a 15-watt item that cools a device down as it takes in charge wirelessly. It is not clear if an update in Europe that augments the in-car ‘Laura’ voice assistant function with ChatGPT AI is enable for New Zealand.