SKODA

Skoda Octavia Combi: 25 years of existence

March is the month of the year when the timer resets to zero and life begins anew. On March 3, 1998, one of the most important models in Skoda's long history began to run, thus starting the series production of what would end up becoming one of the bestsellers of the Czech brand. The Skoda Octavia Combi turns 25.

In fact, production of the station wagon version of the Skoda Octavia started a little earlier, in February, at a modern plant in Mladá Boleslav. Since then, during this quarter of a century, the Octavia Combi has become one of the most successful family cars in its category in many countries. Currently, the fourth generation offers electrified versions to adapt to the sustainable trend, with a plug-in hybrid version and a Mild-Hybrid version.

Until the 17th of May, the Czech brand will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Skoda Octavia Combi with an exhibition at the Skoda Museum in Mladá Boleslav.

Although the Skoda Octavia Combi is officially 25 years old, there was already an Octavia with a family body, called Combi, in the 60s. variable, which combined the advantages of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

With a length of just 4,065 mm, a width of 1,600 mm and a height of 1,430 mm, the Skoda Octavia Combi could carry 690 liters of luggage, as well as five passengers and up to 1,050 liters when the seats were folded down. It also had other practical equipment. A level of practicality that many current much larger SUVs cannot boast.

Between 1961 and 1971, 54,100 of these cars rolled out of the Kvasiny plant. As the basis for the Octavia, Skoda used the traditional concept with a spine chassis and a front-mounted 4-cylinder petrol engine that drove the rear wheels. Its robust construction, combined with a ground clearance of 175 mm, has proven its effectiveness even in demanding conditions of use.

In 1992, shortly after the integration of the Czech brand into the Volkswagen Group, a new generation of the Skoda Octavia arrived based on the German group's A4 chassis platform and designed by the team led by Dirk van Braeckel. Production started in 1996 in Mladá Boleslav, one of the most modern in Europe at the time.

In September 1997, the manufacture of 200 pre-series units of the Combi version began and, finally, in February 1998, series production began, shortly before the world premiere, on March 3, 1998 at the Geneva Motor Show. The first deliveries took place in May of that year.

It was a station wagon that was 4,500 mm long and had a wheelbase of 2,510 mm, so it was only 6 mm longer than the sedan, but it had a boot capacity of 548 litres, expandable to 1,512, one of the largest in its category.

Aesthetically, it had an elegant and functional design that pleased both experts and customers alike and won the Czech National Design Award in 1999. During the first year of sales, the Combi accounted for 15% of Octavia sales and in 2001 that percentage rose to 40.5%. During its 13-year career, 470,600 copies were manufactured.

In the European summer of 2004, the second generation of the Skoda Octavia Combi, the A5, arrived, which coexisted with the first for six years. This time, the design was handled by the team led by Thomas Ingenlath. In 2013, 881,200 customers had opted for the station wagon, representing 33% of Octavia's worldwide sales.

The third generation (A7) was released on March 7, 2013 and was even more successful than the previous one. Over time, Skoda expanded the Octavia lineup, including the Scout version. This version added greater ground clearance, crossover aesthetics and all-wheel drive. SUVs were already in fashion and it was necessary to fight them. Between 2012 and 2020, 1,195,500 units of the third generation Octavia Combi rolled out of Skoda's production plants.

The fourth and current generation of the Octavia Combi arrived in November 2019, becoming the first series production model of the Czech brand with mild-hybrid e-TEC technology. For the first time, Skoda is also offering an Octavia Combi iV plug-in hybrid which is also available on the sporty Octavia Combi RS iV.

The fourth modern delivery of the Octavia station wagon surpassed a quarter of a million units sold. In this way, the Skoda Octavia Combi reached more than 2.8 million customers in total during its 25 years of existence.

Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas