Crystalline, precise and timeless – designers rate the third Superb

The third generation bears the indelible hallmark of then Škoda chief designer Jozef Kabaň, who was the main creator of crystalline design. The shape of the car was hinted at in the 2014 Vision C study, which showed that the Superb would be a car with a distinctive character: more sculpted, with sharp lines and a new attention to detail, as befits a flagship model.

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“I strongly associate the third-generation Superb with Jozef Kabaň. Naturally, it was challenging but also unexpectedly fun. And I think this is still reflected positively in the car today – the result still looks great,” recalls Kateřina Vránová, head of the Color & Trim department, which works with cars’ materials and colour schemes. 

Jiří Hadaščok, now the car company’s exterior design coordinator, confirms that it was a challenging task. “In the process of design development, more models were created than usual, with five or six designers working with a total of four clay models. Jozef Kabaň wanted to achieve a car that was polished in every detail,” says Hadaščok.

Emphasis on details

And the details are legion. Hadaščok mentions the bonnet, for example, whose seam visually connects to Škoda’s typical tornado line on the side of the car. Instead of the seam being distracting, it nicely accentuates the car’s shapes. “This was also a technical challenge, as a special hinge had to be used, and the bonnet also came up against limitations in terms of moulding capabilities, especially when there were such sharp edges,” says Hadaščok. The attention to detail is confirmed by the elaborate wheel rims that customers could choose for the third-generation Superb. “They give the car a beautiful posture on the road,” says Hadaščok.

The soul of the crystalline design of the third-generation Superb is, of course, the lights. Headlight specialist Petr Nevřela worked on their appearance. “In every respect, we were aiming for precision design. LED technology helped us again, but we still had to push the suppliers to meet our requirements. For example, the C-signatures in the rear lights are only 2.5 millimetres wide at their ends, so such precision was a big challenge,” says Nevřela. At the front, the daytime running lights have just a four-millimetre lip beside the radiator grille, a dimension that is still unique to this day.

The whole result made it all worthwhile. “Typically, it’s cars’ headlights, wheels and then the interior – especially in terms of controls and infotainment – that age fastest. In fact, a third Superb could easily continue for another eight years with just a slight upgrade. It’s a car that I still love to look at on the street,” says Peter Olah, Head of Interior Design at Škoda.

The third generation of the Superb included a popular Combi estate

Roomy, clean, practical

It is in the interior that the age of the third-generation Superb is perhaps most distinctive. “We wanted to go down the route of lightweight displays on the top edge of the dashboard early on in the development, but we were limited by the technology available at the time, and that was probably the biggest challenge for us in terms of appearance,” explains Peter Olah. 

Elegant interior of the Laurin & Klement version

But otherwise, according to Škoda’s designers, there aren’t really any problems to solve inside. “The concept of the materials was very successful. The interior has been visually cleaned up in the back, and when you sit in the car you really get a feeling of luxury,” says Olah of the car’s interior. “It’s spacious, the look is as clean as possible, everything is ergonomically well designed. The materials and colours perfectly match the various equipment options on offer,” adds Vránová. There is plenty of space, and the third-generation Superb has a huge luggage compartment in both the Combi estate and hatchback versions.

Peter Olah
head of interior design at Škoda

The designers also tried to evoke a sense of plasticity in the interior design. “Our aim was to give the dashboard a slim, elegant and timeless feel. We achieved this by layering the dashboard’s various parts, with the upper part being moved more towards the windscreen, while the middle part is moved more towards the passengers,” explains Miroslav Jaskmanicki, who worked on the interior design. According to Miroslav, the quality of the interior in the eyes of the users was enhanced by the intensive use of soft materials in areas that the customer touches on a daily basis.

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