NDTV Car of the Year 2017: Skoda Superb

The NDTV Car And Bike Awards 2017 finished on a high note by crowning a new ‘NDTV Car of the Year' – the Skoda Superb. The 2017 edition of the awards in their 12th year was the closest ever in terms of scoring for one of the most important 4-wheeler awards as the Superb edged ahead of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza by a very slim margin of just two points. The latter did win the second prestigious category of CNB Viewers' Choice Car of the Year 2017.

Skoda Superb

The Skoda Superb is currently in its third generation. All three generations have been available in India and have been popular with those looking for a large luxury sedan but an affordable price point. The Skoda Superb in its current avatar was launched in the first half of 2016 and was introduced in India with both a petrol and diesel engine. Deliveries for the petrol car began initially with the diesel following soon after. The Skoda Superb is priced between Rs. 24.08-31.80 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for petrol and diesel variants. The petrol is a 1.8-litre, four cylinder, turbocharged unit that makes 177 bhp of peak power and is mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed automatic gearbox. The manual gets 320 Nm of torque whereas the automatic is restricted to only 250 Nm of torque. The diesel, on the other hand is only available with a 6-speed automatic gearbox and is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit. It makes 174 bhp and 350 Nm and returns 18.19 kmpl, which is quite impressive for a full size sedan. The petrol on the other hand has a claimed fuel economy figure of 14.12 kmpl for the manual and 14.67 kmpl for the automatic.

Sudhir Rao, Skoda India - MD, accepts the 'NDTV Car of the Year' award

The panel of jury members who drove the entire gamut of nominated cars at the Buddh International Circuit cast their secret ballot. Other cars in contention for the award were the Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Tucson, the Tata Tiago, Honda BR-V, Ford Endeavour, Datsun redi-GO, Toyota Innova Crysta and the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza of course.

The Skoda Superb also offers a very comfortable rear seat and impressive amounts of leg space and shoulder room to put even larger executive sedans to shame. The Superb also comes packed with tech and gizmos on the inside like Apple CarPlay, ambient lighting, electrically adjustable seats and a panoramic sunroof. You also get a two zone climate control for the front passengers while the rear passengers get a temperature control for the AC too. The Superb has also been lauded for a clean and crisp design very typical of the family look that all Skoda cars are sporting currently. The sharp headlamps that are inset into the body, crisp tail lamps and large grille combine to make a striking looking car and the coupe like roofline give the Superb an elegant yet understated look. Of course, you also get LED elements like the daytime running lights that accentuate the look of the car.