The next generation of the Skoda Superb, arriving in 2023, will be an evolutionary design. The 2023 Skoda Superb will look slightly bolder and more assertive but instantly recognisable. Our spies in Austria have now shot first images of a prototype.
Two years ago, Skoda’s exterior designer Petr Matusinec has talked about the signature design elements that will likely apply to the next-gen Superb. Meeting the new ‘Modern Solid’ criteria, the 2023 Skoda Superb should feature a powerdome, a new octagonal grille with taller struts, and narrower and wider headlamps connected to the radiator grille. At the rear, the new taillights would be slimmer C-shaped units, and the Superb will retain its stately character in the future. And: The new car will retain the MQB platform and get electrification with an iV plug-in hybrid.
Inside, the new Superb should download the multi-level dashboard design, HUD, tri-zone climate control, improved digital instrument cluster, DSG with shift-by-wire, along with new driver assistance systems, safety systems (such as the Collision Avoidance Assist, Turn Assist, Exit Warning) and ‘Ergo’ rear seat tech from the new Octavia, besides debuting several firsts for the Skoda brand.
Oliver Stefani, Head of Design of Skoda Auto, commented on the next-gen Superb and whether the sales pressure exerted by crossovers would influence the design, he insisted that the limousine will continue with the tried and tested formula. And he added: “We know that in Skoda the number of sold saloons and estates is going against the trend, and increasing.”
The manufacture of the next-generation Superb is moving from Kvasiny to Bratislava in 2023, Skoda confirmed last November. With more customers preferring SUVs over traditional cars like sedans and estates/station wagons, demand for the VW Passat is dipping in most markets. In the U.S., for instance, the model is retiring permanently at the end of the current generation. In Europe, the new strategy to continue selling it is getting Skoda to develop and manufacture it at a lower cost and reportedly offering only its estate variant, ironically called Passat Variant, in the next generation.
Originally, Skoda planned to make its next-gen Superb and Volkswagen’s next-gen Passat in Kvasiny, Czech Republic. The new plan is that Volkswagen will conduct the manufacturing of the two sedans at its Bratislava plant in Slovakia. With Skoda’s Citigo, Volkswagen’s Up!, and Seat’s Mii made at this facility, the site offers one of the lowest production costs among the three plants. Skoda will use the freed-up space at the Kvasiny plant to manufacture SUVs and other models.
As per recent media reports, VW does not plan to offer a manual transmission in the next-generation Passat. While it serves a different clientele, it’s possible the Skoda Superb may also eliminate its manual gearbox in the next generation. The lower-end Superb MT model could continue only if there is enough demand for this feature.
Skoda has said that by 2025, it will have 10 electrified models in various segments, 6 of which will be all-electric, the others hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
AUTOMEDIA
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