Skoda Octavia GreenLine – UK Release

It wasn’t exactly the biggest announcement at the Geneva Motor Show this year, but Skoda did let us know that they were adding the Skoda Octavia GreenLine to their range of Eco-Skodas, joining the Fabia GreenLine and the Superb Green Line to make up Skoda’s Economy range. To be honest, we didn’t report it then, so as the Octavia GreenLine has been released for the UK, we thought we ought to correct our oversight.

The trouble is, there’s not a huge amount to say. You can already guess that the tweaks to get the CO2 emissions down and the mpg up are going to run along the same lines as everyone else’s Ec-Cars. Think what Ford has done with the ECOnetic or VW with the BlueMotion and you won’t be far wrong.

But Skoda has actually gone the route of a new engine for the Octavia GreenLine by installing a fresh lump. It’s a 1.6 litre diesel producing 105bhp and delivering 185lb/ft of torque, with emissions of 114g/km and an average of 53.4mpg. It gets the obligatory low rolling resistance tyres, aerodynamic tweaks and weight cutting.

Skoda are making great play of its tax benefits for company car drivers compared to the standard Octavia diesel – the 1.9 litre TDI. So maybe they are aiming this Eco-Octavia straight at fleet operators rather than Joe Public. Hard to know, but the details we would normally get are a bit thin, to be honest. Slightly worrying, knowing that some (but not all) Eco Cars are pretty sluggish, Skoda hasn’t provided us with any performance figures.

The Skoda Octavia GreenLine is now available to order in the UK. And you don’t actually get the big green leaf on the side to show you’re an Eco-driver, just some ‘GreenLine’ badges.

But I suppose if you actually wanted it Skoda might oblige.