Skoda has confirmed the next generation of its Superb flagship will be lighter yet longer, wider and more spacious than its predecessor.
Set to be revealed in mid-February, a couple of weeks before its global public debut at the 2015 Geneva motor show, the new model will be the largest vehicle in the Volkswagen Group to be based on the MQB platform, which also underpins vehicles like the Audi TT and Volkswagen Golf.
The Czech brand's next Superb will arrive in European dealerships in the northern summer, in the third quarter of 2015, but is not expected to hit Australian showrooms until 2016.
As these latest spy photos confirm, the design is complete and although the car will retain Skoda's conservative design ethos without too many dramatic features, it will move the Superb into the modern era in terms of design.
Taking a touch of inspiration from the Skoda Vision C concept shown at the 2014 Geneva show, it appears as though the 2015 Superb has a sleeker, more mature look. It could be argued there's even a touch of Audi in the rear-end.
Even with camouflage, it's evident the new Skoda Superb has a more confident road presence and a sportier stance.
Expected to build on the elements that appealed to current owners – intelligent storage solutions, good fuel economy and an affordable price – the new model will measure around 4850mm long (up from its 4833mm predecessor) and will also be 50mm wider. Its MQB-based wheelbase is also likely to stretch, by 75mm to 2836mm.
This will afford even more front and rear passenger room — close to Mercedes-Benz S-Class levels are the rumours. Rear-seat passengers will also get a tablet or iPad holder as well as cup-holders that fold out of the rear armrest, while boot space has increased from 595 litres to 625 litres, expanding to 1760 litres with the seats folded.
Shedding around 75kg of weight and equipped with more efficient powertrains, the 2015 Skoda Superb should also be more frugal than previously. The V6 may be ditched for a purely four-cylinder turbo engine range, mated to six-speed manual and seven-speed DSG auto transmission.
Both front- and all-wheel drive will be available, the latter using the latest Haldex coupling technology.
The new Superb will also debut a plug-in hybrid powertrain for Volkswagen's budget brand, and it's expected to be similar in effect to the Passat GTE's, which features a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol combustion engine mated to an electric motor and can run CO2 emissions-free for up to 50km.
In Europe the car's price is tipped to rise slightly and it will be offered with adaptive dampers for the first time, which will expand the price tag further.
The current generation Superb has sold around 750,000 units globally but at the moment is only a minnow in terms of Australian sales. So far in 2014 Skoda has sold 335 Superbs, which is less than one per cent of the large car segment currently dominated by the Holden Commodore.
Holden's large-car stalwart, which will be axed forever in late 2017, attracted 28,194 buyers to the end of November, accounting for more than 72 per cent of the segment.