Skoda’s Vision O concept is a glimpse of the next Octavia estate

It seems like there’s life in the old estate car yet. This is what Skoda reckons its next Octavia should look like, with a tantalising glimpse of what the Czech carmaker calls an ‘evolved’ version of its Modern Solid design language. 

The Vision O concept — unveiled at the Munich motor show — employs a design philosophy that the company has said will see it penning its cars from the ‘inside out’, focusing on passengers. 

Following Skoda’s habits with its mid-range family car there’s not another Octavia due until 2028, but with lengthy car industry lead times, plans will be long underway for the fifth-generation version.

The company says this thinly veiled Octavia offers a minimalist design with maximum practicality. What does that actually mean? Well, the bootspace is 650 litres (1,700 litres with the seats down – that’s how serious Skoda is about the thing, we already know the seats down boot capacity), there’s a portable Bluetooth speaker inside and a fridge, all concealed within a sleek exterior characterised at the front end by what Skoda calls a “Tech-loop face mask”, which sounds like something we had to wear during Covid, but actually refers to whatever is going on there with the grille and headlights. 

There is some measure of concept car whimsy involved with the Vision O – the car features not one but four umbrellas squirrelled away in the doors. So time it right and the whole family could look like they’re in a 1950s Gene Kelly musical number. Those pillarless doors and the bird's nest headrests probably won't make it through to production either. 

It’s all very high-tech inside the Vision O, without being too overwhelming. There’s no instrument panel behind the steering wheel, but a full width 1.2-metre display across the top of the dashboard with a little something for everyone, as well as a vertically oriented infotainment screen. Behind the infotainment screen in the centre stack are a rotary dial, miscellaneous buttons for the aircon and a phone charging setup that looks like it’ll spit your phones under the front seats round the first corner, but Skoda says it’s magnetic. Challenge accepted. 

There’s also an upgraded version of Skoda’s in-car personal assistant, Laura, who will help you take notes in meetings, decide where to have dinner and arrange the assassination of all your personal enemies. Possibly. You might have to wait for a later OTA update for that last one. 

The minimalist exterior includes sweeping lights at the rear that echo the front-end look, and the Vision O has light up Skoda badges front and rear. A black accented floating roof lends it a striking look, with a mid-flank fin up the B-pillar that’s been nicked straight off a 2010 Citroen DS3.

It’s expected that the Vision O will become an electric version of the Octavia, on sale around 2028, and the current version will be updated to stay on sale longer for those who still want combustion engines.