2020 Skoda Octavia Gen 4 Enters Production in the Czech Republic

Generation four was revealed on November 11th, and as it happens, production is already underway at the Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic.

Around 400,000 examples of the Octavia are delivered each year, meaning that Skoda put in the effort to make Gen 4 better than everything that came before it. The Volkswagen MQB-based model is particularly popular in its domestic market, Austria, Finland, as well as Switzerland.

"The start of production of the new Octavia at our main plant in Mladá Boleslav marks the beginning of a new chapter in the impressive success story of our brand's icon," said Michael Oeljeklaus." We have invested into renovating our production lines, enabling us to manufacture the best Octavia ever, in time for its 60th anniversary," concluded the board member.

Skoda's factory is an enormous industrial complex. The Octavia has been assigned production hall M13, which has been re-tooled with more robots than ever before. Their role is to make life easier for the workforce, and each day, approximately 1,150 models are rolling off the assembly line.

Spacious and smarter than ever before, the Gen 4 also happens to be the first Skoda to adopt a head-up display in higher trim levels. Similarly to the Golf, the Octavia is treated to six-speed manuals and a DSG option alongside mild-hybrid engines such as the 1.0- and 1.5-liter TSI Evo. The 2.0 TDI also soldiers on, packing anything between 116 and 200 horsepower plus 400 Nm.

The party piece of the Octavia is the plug-in hybrid called iV, combining the 1.4 TSI with an electric motor for 204 horsepower, 7.9 seconds to 100 km/h, and an all-electric range of 55 kilometers (about 34 miles). The PHEV might not have as much trunk capacity as the mild hybrids and diesels, but then again, what you lose in space you ultimately gain in terms of efficiency.