Here we have a Skoda Octavia Edition V, a special edition of the Skoda Octavia sedan. I met this rare Skoda in the Chinese capital Beijing in 2018. It was a bit dusty but otherwise all right.
The second-generation Skoda Octavia was manufactured in China by the Shanghai-VW joint venture from 2007 until 2014, with a major facelift in 2010. The car in the photos is a post-facelift example. The Chinese name for Octavia is 明锐, Míngruì.
The Skoda Octavia Edition V, with a red V, was launched in 2012. It celebrated five years of Skoda Octavia production in China. It has Edition V badges on the front fenders and the back. The full name was Octavia Fifth Anniversary Collection Edition (明锐五周年典藏版).
The Edition V had an extra fancy interior with two-tone leather seats. It also had a standard sunroof and other goodies like a rear window sunshade and an audio system with a CD player and nine speakers. The leather of the car that I met was a bit dirty again, but in fine shape, which is all the more impressive because the owner didn’t have any after-market seat covers.
The bench seems completely unused! There is a seat cover lying on the floor and on the bench is a sun reflector for the windshield.
The Octavia was a fastback with a large trunk: 560 liters or 1350 with the rear seats down. At the time, fastbacks were quite rare in China. Nowadays, almost every new electric sedan has a fastback design.
The Skoda Octavia Edition V was only available with one powertrain: a 1.6-liter gasoline engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission, sending power to the front wheels. The output of the engine was 105 hp and 155 Nm, good for a 180 km/h top speed and a 0-100 of 13 seconds. It has a 55-liter fuel tank and a fuel consumption of 7.6 liters per 100 kilometers.
Characters: 上海大众, Shànghǎi Dàzhòng, Shanghai-Volkswagen. In 2013, the Skoda Octavia Edition V sold for 148.400 yuan, which made it the most expansive variant of the lineup at the time. But hey! A collector’s item is worth a few extra fen, isn’t it? Sadly, it seems the market didn’t see it that way. As far as I can see, Skoda didn’t sell a lot of these celebratory editions.
Skoka, however, was undeterred, and later on, the brand also launched an Edition V of the Skoda Fabia. I haven’t seen one of those on the road yet. As soon as I do, you will find it here.