AUSTRALIA'S already crowded crossover SUV market gets a little harder to navigate this week with the launch of Skoda's new Octavia Scout model, a hard-edged all-wheel-drive derivative of the mid-sized Octavia station wagon that arrived on the market almost 18 months ago.
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This latest model comes to market with an expanded engine line-up boasting a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel in two states of tune and a 1.8-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
Scout buyers will be able to choose between the entry-level 110-kilowatt and 135-kilowatt turbo-diesels and the 132-kilowatt petrol engine which also boast direct fuel-injection.
The new engine range boasts higher power and torque figures than the engines of the outgoing model with, in the case of the 13-kilowatt diesel, 31 per cent more power and 19 per cent more torque but significantly lower fuel consumption numbers with the diesel engines rated at a miserly 5.3 litres/100km.
Scout launches with a new guaranteed future value package called Skoda Choice with which buyers are able to nominate the kilometres they will drive annually and the amount of time in year-long increments up to four years.
With that information the company is then able to show a guaranteed valuation at the end of the period.
Pricing for the new Octavia Scout starts at $32,990 plus on-road costs.
