Skoda Octavia

Press Release

Å koda's new Octavia, which hit showrooms in July, is proving to be an even better purchase choice than previously thought. Not enough that the car is much-praised by industry experts, it lives up to the Å koda promise of delivering that "extra bit of car" with extremely competitive pricing allied to whole life costs and residual values that are top-of-the-class.

Emmox Ltd's Carcost system, the industry-leader in car cost analysis, has indicated that the new Škoda Octavia will be the cheapest model to run among its immediate competitors. The Octavia 1.9TDI PD Ambiente, retailing at £13,800 on-the-road, will cost just 29.16 pence per mile, based on a three years and 60,000 mile lifecycle. Moving up to the top diesel Octavia, the 2.0 TDI PD Elegance, the cost per mile is 34.06 pence, again the lowest in its market sector.

One of the major reasons for the stunning whole life costs has been a significant increase in forecasted residual values for the new Octavia. Glass's Guide places the Octavia 1.9 TDI PD highest - 38% - against upper medium competitors such as Vectra 2.0 TDI and Peugeot 407 1.6 HDI. Emmox Carcost is also confident that Octavia will be a success, forecasting residual values of between 40.68% for the Octavia Classic 1.6 MPI and 44.07% for the Classic 1.9 TDI PD.

Å koda UK Head of Business Sales John Rooney is pleased with the news about whole life costs. "We are confident that the new Octavia is the right choice for fleet decision makers, with whole life costs that set a new standard. All the Octavia models have a comprehensive specification that will prove attractive to user-chooser company car drivers as well, along with a car that is good to look at and great to drive."

All of that definitely adds up to another way in which Octavia offers "an extra bit of car" - an upper-medium size car with lower running costs and better residual values than cars in the lower-medium sector.

Data Sources:

• Carcost 27 August 2004;
• Glass's Guide RV Forecast, September 2004.

Notes:

• As with all Å koda models, the new Octavia comes with a three-year / 60,000 mile warranty and also benefits from a three-year paint and a 12-year anti-perforation warranty.
• Whole Life Costs are based on the list price, fuel economy and CO2 emissions, and includes depreciation, service, maintenance and repair costs (SMR) fuel, finance charges, insurance, national insurance and registration fees.
• Residual values are based on 36 months, 60,000 miles of ownership.