I probably got hotter under the collar than most about the arrival of the new Skoda Superb Estate. I love big estates – there’s something about their ability to combine handsome lines and load-lugging duties that inexplicably rouses a powerful want-one desirability deep within me.
No one understands this blend of qualities better than Volvo. Which is why I have a V70 on my driveway. However, as I looked at the Superb estate and marvelled at its impeccable mix of commonsense functionality, reliability, value and slight leftfield styling, I realised that Skoda has, surreptitiously but effectively, neatly installed itself in the market gap vacated by Volvo.
Think about it. Over the last two decades, Volvo has successfully moved away from its safe-and- idiosyncratic image to a more appealing safe-and-sleek stance. Compare the 850 of 1992 to today’s V70. See what I mean?
And at the same time, Skoda has cleverly reinvented itself as an engineering-led marque that delivers more for less including an added dollop of quirkiness. Think Yeti, Roomster and Fabia – models that have been aimed with unerring accuracy at a very specific market sector looking for something intelligently configured and hard-working, styled to make you cock your head to the side.
Which means the moment I can afford it, the V70 will be replaced by a Superb estate. The 170bhp 2.0-litre TDI job, Elegance spec, in Storm Blue, I think. Once someone else has taken the initial depreciation hit, of course…