With the Passat Sedan and Arteon going away, the Volkswagen Group is reducing its midsize offerings in the non-SUV segment. It means you’ll be left with the Superb to compete in a rarified European mainstream sedan segment where the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia and Ford Mondeo are no longer available. Technically, Skoda’s flagship is a more practical liftback, and will be joined once again by an even more spacious wagon.
Our spies have caught the former while undergoing final testing at and around the Nürburgring. It appears to be hiding an evolutionary design rather than adopting Skoda’s fresh “Modern Solid” design language previewed on last year’s Vision 7S concept. You’d be forgiven for thinking the Czech automaker slapped camo on the outgoing model but there are some subtle changes in the design of the lights both front and rear.
The bumpers are also slightly different, and the exposed areas show a color we haven’t seen before on a Skoda. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the 2024 Superb prototype had dual exhausts, hinting at a potent variant. We might be dealing with an all-wheel-drive version equipped with the 2.0 TSI engine dialed to 276 horsepower transferred to the wheels via a DSG.
From the profile, the character line has been moved slightly lower, at the door handle level. In addition, the pillars for the mirrors have also been repositioned slightly lower on the doors. It’s unclear whether we’re looking at a Superb in the Sportline trim, although that might not be the case since there’s some significant wheel gap rather than a lowered, stiffer suspension setup.
Spy shots of the interior are not available in this set, but from some angles, we can see the back of the infotainment. Sadly, it’s no longer neatly integrated into the dashboard as Skoda is going for the tablet look. Previous images partially revealed the dashboard with the tacked-on screen of generous dimensions, possibly a 15-inch diagonal to match the ID.7 and upcoming 2024 Tiguan. The mechanically related wagon-only Passat will likely get the same display.
Skoda’s range-topping model will no longer carry the “Made in the Czech Republic” label since production is moving from Kvasiny to Bratislava in Slovakia for both body styles. That’s where the new Passat with its long roof is also going to be made. All three cars will be offered with VW’s final combustion engines, developed to meet the Euro 7 regulations scheduled to come into effect in mid-2025. Plug-in hybrid powertrains are also planned, but no EVs since there are (or will be) other models based on the dedicated MEB platform to fulfill that role.
Skoda will unveil the third-gen Superb (fourth if you’re counting the original 1934–1949 model) this fall.
