£18,640 start price for new Skoda Superb

The new Skoda Superb will hit UK roads in September, priced from £18,640 OTR.  Available to order now, that price is for a base model S specification car powered by a 125PS 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine.

Bookending the range is the Superb Laurin & Klement 2.0 TSI 280PS 4x4 DSG, which retails at £34,740. As ever, the smart money lands around the middle of the range, with an SE 2.0-litre TDI 150PS looking good value at £22,090. Add £1400 to that for a DSG automatic gearbox.

The new Superb has a four-strong trim hierarchy comprising S, SE, SE L Executive and L&K (Laurin & Klement), with petrol and diesel engines stretching from 125PS to 280PS.

Two petrol engines are available, each in two states of tune: a 1.4-litre TSI with 125PS or 150PS, and a 2.0-litre TSI with 220PS or 280PS. The diesel heartland also features two engine capacities, though only three outputs between them: the 1.6-litre TDI is 120PS only, while the ubiquitous 2.0-litre unit comes with either 150PS or 190PS.

DSG is available with all but the lowest powered engine, and higher-powered models can be specified with 4x4. There’s no announcement on fuel consumption yet, but expect the 1.6-litre diesel to match today’s GreenLine model at least, 64.2mpg, and also expect a newer GreenLine model later in the car's life, likely to top 70mpg.

Standard trim is generous enough to make an S a genuinely alluring purchase, with 16-inch alloy wheels, LED rear lights, halogen headlamps with DRLs, electric parking brake, air conditioning, Bluetooth, DAB radio, a touchscreen media interface, and the following safety acronyms (and we quote): ESC, ABS, EBV, MSR, ASR, EDS, HBA, DSR, RBS, CBC, MKB, XDS+.

Spec up to SE and you add an inch to the wheels, dual-zone climate control, rear parking sensors, cornering fog lights, adaptive cruise control and a bigger media touch screen.

Above that (and among other things) SE-L adds leather upholstery, an electric tailgate, tinted glass, heated front seats, satellite navigation, even bigger wheels and xenon headlamps. And beyond that, L&K is positively luxurious, including tri-zone climate control, piano black trim, a ten-speaker sound system, lane assist, park assist, a TV tuner, Dynamic Chassis Control and blind spot detection. Oh, and floor mats.