2015 Skoda Superb priced from £18,640 to £34,740

The new Skoda Skoda Superb was revealed at the Geneva motor show, and is being pitched as a rival to everything from the Ford Mondeo to the BMW 3 Series.

It will start from £18,640 for the 1.4-litre petrol engine in entry-level S trim and go up to £34,740 for the faster 276bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine with DSG gearbox when it goes on sale later this year.

The Czech manufacturer has shifted just over 750,000 examples of its flagship since it was first introduced in 2001, and around 6000 were sold in the UK last year. Accordingly, the latest generation does little to mess with the Superb formula; there's only a modest gain in length over the car it replaces (28mm) and it's actually slightly shorter than the latest Mondeo hatchback.

Read Autocar's drive of a new Skoda Superb prototype

However, the Superb moves to the VW Group's MQB platform architecture and sits on a much-extended wheelbase (it's 80mm longer than the old car's, and 94mm up on the latest Passat's) to build on the car's key strength: cabin and boot space.

The Superb's styling is typical current Skoda fare, with crisp, straight-edged creases along the flanks, a prominent front grille with vertical slats and slim headlights whose design is influenced by Czech cut crystal.

The cabin gets improved materials throughout, and while the rear legroom feels similar to the previous car's admittedly generous provision, you do notice improved rear head room and greater shoulder room for front and rear passengers.

Unlike the previous Superb, which offered a dual-mode boot opening, the new model gets a conventional hatchback. The boot itself is enormous; with the rear seats in place the capacity is 625 litres, 39 litres up on a Passat and 84 litres more than a Mondeo. The gap grows further when you lower the 60/40 split rear seats.

The engine line-up will be focused on diesels, starting with a 118bhp 1.6-litre unit that should emit around 103g/km of CO2 in manual form, or 106g/km when equipped with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. This motor will also be offered in more efficient, manual-only Greenline trim that will follow a few months after the main launch; the CO2 emissions of that edition are expected to drop to around 96g/km.

The core diesel motor will be a 2.0-litre unit in two states of tune. In 148bhp form it will emit 106g/km of CO2 (116g/km as a DSG auto), and the more powerful 187bhp edition emits 107g/km as a manual, 119g/km as an auto or 131g/km as an auto with four-wheel drive.

Petrol engines will continue to be offered in the UK, although they'll account for only a tiny percentage of sales. The two motors will actually book-end the range; the overall entry-level Superb will be a 1.4 turbo petrol with 148bhp and CO2 emissions of 115g/km, while the range-topper will be a 276bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol, equipped with a seven-speed DSG automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. It'll emit 164g/km of CO2.