Skoda Superb review

Skoda’s customers are the envy of many car brands.

They like the marque, consistently vote positively in the key satisfaction surveys and recommend Skodas to family and friends.

Not a bad turnaround for a carmaker which was once the butt of jokes.

Skoda’s dealers are every bit as happy as their customers.

Year-on-year sales have risen since 2004 and the franchise expects to break through the 40,000 registration mark by the end of this year.

From September dealers start selling the new generation Superb flagship which has the potential of adding 5,000 sales to the 133-strong network once the wagon is added to the line-up in 2010.

The second generation Superb – third if you count the 1934 original – is a key car for dealers as it has the potential to open up D-segment sales in a way the smaller Octavia was never designed to.

Furthermore, Skoda expects the decline in the upper-medium sector to level out giving it an opportunity to sell between 3,500-4,000 units a year – more than double what it currently achieves.

It expects to compete against the new generation Mondeo, Laguna, C5 and Vauxhall’s forthcoming Insignia.

“Our best year for the Superb was 2005 when we sold 2,883 units but since then we have lost a couple of derivatives. With a better engine line-up and good pricing we will beat that,” said Mary Newcombe, head of marketing.

The Superb is the brand’s halo car; the Octavia and Fabia might lead the sales drive but Skoda believes it is the Superb which will provide dealers with some additional conquest sales while also providing an aspirational car for existing customers.

The brand is also confident the car will appeal to company car drivers who it expects will account for 80 per cent of sales.

Its faith is well founded. With prices starting under £16K and diesel emissions as low as 151g/km it will appeal to drivers looking to squeeze the most out of their benefit-in-kind tax charges.

A lower emission 1.9-litre diesel-engined Green Line model – Skoda’s version of VW’s Blue Motion – will also be available and capable of 55.4mpg while emitting 135g/km.

The brand has taken the fleet-friendly decision to ditch its meaningless Classic and Comfort trim levels in favour of S, SE and Elegance. This move will be appreciated by contract hire companies who like traditional, graduated steps in car line-ups.

The Superb’s ace in the hole is likely to be its standard fit Twindoor boot. This clever system is deployed for the first time in any Volkswagen Group vehicle and through the use of two buttons at the rear the tailgate can be opened as a boot or hatchback.

The options list also includes some innovations. The adaptive lighting system automatically changes light settings according to speed and weather conditions and can be adjusted, by the flick of a switch, for continental driving.

The Park Assist function uses monitors to identify suitable spaces for parallel parking and automatically parks the car with the driver controlling just speed and braking.

A choice of six engines will be available split between three diesels and three petrols. Four wheel drive will be available later in the year with the 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine and the new 2.0-litre common rail diesel.

The brand has successfully achieved a premium feel both inside and outside which will undoubtedly draw comparisons with more pricy offerings from Audi, Skoda’s upmarket sister brand.

Residual values forecasts have improved considerably upon the old model. Cap expects the SE to return 43 per cent after three years/30,000 miles. The outgoing Comfort achieved 37 per cent.

The dealer network drove the car last month at a special international retailer launch in Portugal.

With an eye on spreading the word through the network as quickly as possible, rather than hosting the more traditional partners’ jolly, it invited two senior managers from each site who extensively tested the cars around Lisbon.

With the on-sale date still two months away the brand is keen to build up staff and customer awareness.

The specially imported left hand drive cars used on the UK press launch attended by Motor Trader will be sent around the country for dealers to host special customer events with a view to opening a pre-launch order book.

“The car doesn’t go on sale until 18 September so it’s important for staff and customers to see it. We want everyone in dealerships from car valeters upwards to see the car and for retailers to invite key customers to come and have a look,” said Newcombe.

The sales effort will be supported by a high profile advertising campaign but its theme is still under wraps.
“We only make a few ads so anything we do must support the brand as well as individual cars. We won’t be going in for windy roads but we realise we must punch hard to get noticed,” she said.

Next up for dealers will be the Yeti SUV which was born out of a quirky concept car and will be revealed in production form at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Skoda is also quietly planning a new small car which will further expand the brand’s evolving product line-up.

by Curtis Hutchinson