SCOOP: Skoda to retain the Laura brand along with Octavia

Skoda India will unveil the new Octavia today and its launch is slated sometime around September. The Laura brand was introduced in the early 2000s as the old-generation Octavia was selling well and Skoda wanted to cash in on the sales of the old and the new generation. Since then, the Laura and Octavia brands were sold simultaneously until the Bharat Stage IV norms were implemented in 2010, and the Octavia had to be discontinued.

Since then it has been the Laura that is on sale. With the new Octavia, Skoda will want to bridge the gap between the Rapid and the Octavia. We aren't sure what all engine variants will the Laura be available with and how strong will the D sedan segment be, as manufacturers are today focusing on introducing SUVs in that segment. Renault, Mahindra, Tata already have products in that price bracket and soon we will see Nissan and even Honda enter into this growing SUV segment.