The fourth-gen Superb will be launched in India as a full import sometime next year.
25 Dec 2024 | 2329 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
The new Skoda Superb will be shown in India for the first time in January at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo alongside the new Kodiaq and Octavia RS. The fourth-gen Superb debuted globally in late 2023 and is more of an evolution of the outgoing third-gen car.
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The new Skoda Superb will be shown in India for the first time in January at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo alongside the new Kodiaq and Octavia RS. The fourth-gen Superb debuted globally in late 2023 and is more of an evolution of the outgoing third-gen car.
New Skoda Superb is familiar yet new
The new Superb looks more stylish than its predecessor and draws from the brand’s Modern Solid design language that incorporates angular, sharply drawn lines with a mix of traditional Skoda cues.
Inside, the new Superb gets the ‘smart dial’ controls on the dashboard, just like the ones seen on the second-gen Kodiaq. These controls can be customised for different functions according to user preferences. It also gets some physical buttons on the dashboard, while a majority of functions have moved to the new 13-inch infotainment screen, which is again similar to the new Kodiaq.
Under the hood, the Superb comes with multiple petrol and diesel engine options, depending on the market. For India, we expect the 2.0-litre turbo petrol with 204hp or 265hp output.
New Skoda Superb will be sold as a full import in India
Just like the outgoing Superb, which was reintroduced as a full import last year, the new-gen car being displayed at the show will also be launched in India as a fully imported unit. Skoda confirmed this development to us a few months ago.
The key reason, as reported earlier, is the shifting of the Superb’s production facility from Kvasiny, Czechia, to the VW Group’s plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Bratislava plant does not have a facility to build CKD (completely knocked down) kits of the Superb and can only produce complete vehicles for local sale and exports.
For India, too, local assembly won’t be cost-effective. The previous-gen Superb, which was locally assembled, struggled to cross monthly sales of 400 units. The fully imported third-gen Superb launched last year has also been finding it tough to attract customers, with some unsold units being offered at tempting discounts that bring the car’s price almost on par with the locally assembled version.
Though the fourth-gen Superb will be imported as completely built units, some small changes will have to be carried out, such as ADAS calibration for Indian conditions, which will add to costs. Skoda could bring back the Superb diesel via the CBU route to attract diesel loyalists. But all in all, the idea of bringing the fourth-gen Superb even as a full import would turn out to be highly expensive.
Expect more details on the Superb’s India launch at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo, which starts on January 17.