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The Skoda Octavia will gain hybrid power as the Czech brand looks to offer buyers of the family hatchback and estate a full gamut of powertrain options.

“What you can expect for the Octavia is that you will get pure-hybrid and plug-in hybrid solutions in future,” technical chief Johannes Neft told Autocar. 

The full-hybrid powertrian is expected to be that which will make its debut in the technically related Volkswagen Golf and T-Roc later this year. 

This matches the Volkswagen Group’s familiar 1.5-litre turbo petrol four and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox with an electric motor and a 1.6kWh battery. 

The motor is used to drive the wheels at slower speeds, with the engine kicking in under higher loads. 

In the Golf and T-Roc, the system will offer a combined output of either 136bhp or 170bhp. Both configurations are expected to be available in the Octavia.

A new plug-in hybrid Octavia, meanwhile, is expected to use the same powertrain as the current Golf eHybrid.

This uses the same 1.5-litre engine but a six-speed dual-clutch 'box, while its battery is upsized to 19.7kWh to offer an electric-only range of 88 miles.

Although EV range is likely to be slightly shorter in the larger Octavia, such a figure would place the model in the competitive 7% benefit-in-kind tax band for company car users.

Diesel is also expected to remain in the Octavia line-up for the foreseeable future, as Neft committed to offering a “complete range of combustion versions”.

An electric Octavia was previewed by the Vision O concept at last year’s Munich motor show, but this isn't due to manifest as a production car until the turn of the decade.

Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer previously told Autocar that the firm “wanted to keep all avenues open in terms of what is feasible” in offering an ICE Octavia in the long term.

The new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé is the performance brand's first dedicated EV – and its most powerful model to date.

Due on sale in the UK in September from around £150,000, the new electric performance saloon line-up will be led by the GT 63, which can sprint from 0-62mph in just 2.4sec and hit a top speed of 186mph, thanks to 1169bhp and 1475lb ft of torque.

What's it like to drive? Find out here

The low-slung Porsche Taycan and Lotus Emeya rival was previewed by two concepts, 2022's Vision AMG and 2025's GT XX, and its design has clearly been evolved from those.

It's the first model to be underpinned by the new electric AMG.EA platform, also set to be adopted by a super-SUV currently in development at the firm's Affalterbach HQ.

At 5.09m long, 1.96m wide and 1.41m tall with a 3.0m wheelbase, the new GT 4-Door Coupé is slightly longer and taller but narrower than the Taycan.

Kerb weight is quoted at 2460kg, although AMG claims the low mounting position and compact electric motors combine for a significantly lower centre of gravity than the original petrol-engined GT 4-Door Coupé of 2018 had.

Next-gen motors

The new car's powertrain features three axial-flux motors developed with Yasa, the Oxford-based motor specialist owned by Mercedes-Benz, alongside the AMG High Performance Powertrain division in Brixworth. They are manufactured at a dedicated facility in Berlin.

Their adoption represents a major departure from the radial-flux motors used in existing Mercedes EVs. Instead of electromagnetic flow running perpendicular to the motor shaft, it runs parallel, allowing a flatter, disc-like construction.

This allows for more compact packaging. Each rear motor measures around 80mm wide, while the front motor is slightly larger, at around 90mm wide.

Two motors are mounted within the car's rear axle assembly and one at the front, providing fully variable four-wheel drive with torque vectoring across the rear axle.

The rear motors rev to 13,000rpm, while the front motor is capable of extending to 15,000rpm.

The two rear motors are paired with a compact single-speed planetary gearbox, while silicon-carbide inverters manage energy flow under high load.

The front motor operates as a boost unit, engaging only when required and disconnecting under lighter loads to reduce drag.

In the entry-level GT 55, the trio combine to produce 816bhp and 1328lb ft, while the GT 63 raises output to 1169bhp and 1475lb ft. That's significantly more than direct rivals such as the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (1093bhp and 9881b ft) and Lotus Emeya 900 Sport (905bhp and 726lb ft).

It also eclipses the punchiest version of the original GT 4-Door Coupé, the GT 63 S E Performance, which delivered 831bhp and 1084lb ft from a V8-engined plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Beyond peak figures, AMG has emphasised sustained output, claiming the GT 63 delivers maximum power for up to 63 seconds without thermal derating and never has less than 721bhp to use.

Energy is supplied by a newly developed 106kWh battery pack that features directly cooled cylindrical cells, each individually surrounded by a dielectric coolant to maintain stable operating temperatures.

This gives a range of up to 432 miles (in the car's most efficient GT 55 form) – 10 more than the Taycan with Performance Battery Plus.

Its 800V electrical system supports peak DC rapid-charging rates of more than 600kW, meaning around 286 miles of range can be added in 10 minutes.

The production model follows the GT XX concept, which completed almost 25,000 miles of running at the Nardò test track in Italy, setting multiple EV endurance and speed records in the process.

Driver engagement in an EV

AMG claims to have addressed the issue of driver engagement in EVs via a series of innovations.

Its new AMGForce system introduces a synthesised driving sound derived from the original GT 4-Door Coupé's V8, paired with haptic feedback through the seat structure.

There's also a simulated gearbox that's designed to replicate the characteristic of an AMG engine.

Control of the powertrain and chassis is handled by the AMG Race Engineer system, which links motor, braking and suspension functions.

Three rotary controllers on the centre console allow adjustment of the car's response, agility and traction by altering throttle behaviour, yaw characteristics and slip thresholds across a total of 729 settings.

As with other recent AMG models, the chassis adopts an AMG Active Ride Control suspension system combining three-chamber air springs with semi-active roll stabilisation.

Hydraulically interconnected dampers replace conventional anti-roll bars, continuously varying the roll stiffness within parameters set by the five drive modes, which include Race and Drift.

The four-link front and five-link rear suspension arrangements use forged aluminium components to reduce unsprung mass.

Meanwhile, rear-axle steering of up to six degrees aims to balance between low-speed agility and high-speed stability.

Braking is handled by carbon-ceramic discs at the front and steel discs at the rear, integrated with a energy recuperation system that can be adjusted via steering wheel paddles.

The cabin is covered in carbonfibre, metal and leather dominated by a 10.2in digital instrument cluster, a 14.0in infotainment touchscreen and a 14.0in passenger touchscreen.

Production of the new GT 4-Door Coupé will start in Sindelfingen this July. 

For something with well over 1000bhp, there's no obvious drama to it at first.

With its stability control system in Sport, the new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé prototype goes about its business with calm, measured composure. Exactly what you would expect of a large, fast, electric saloon at moderate pace. There's a deliberate margin of safety in the handling balance, the front end delivering strong grip while the electronics keep everything neat and controlled. It feels fluid and encouragingly agile, the steering cleanly weighted and precise, building confidence quickly.

Out on the tight, technical inner handling circuit at the ATP testing site in Papenburg, that composure proves to be only part of the story.

Back in 2022, AMG first signalled its intention to reinvent its bespoke four-door with an EV successor through a full-sized design study. Since then, the GT XX engineering mule has demonstrated not only the drivetrain's performance but its ability to sustain it too, covering 24,901 miles in just over seven days at an average of more than 186mph. Now I'm behind the wheel of a pre-production prototype for the first time.

Lean on it more assertively in Sport+ mode and its character starts to change. Not so much in a straight line, where it's unquestionably quick, gathering speed in one long, uninterrupted surge, but in the way it responds. It feels less dictated by mass than by how precisely its systems manage the clearly substantial performance.

Select Race, ease back the stability systems and work through AMG's Race Engineer function via three rotary dials on the centre tunnel and the transformation is immediate. Throttle response sharpens, the rear axle becomes more active and the initial layer of restraint falls away. There are nine settings for response, agility and traction. The effect is less about outright capability than delivery. As well as presenting a fixed set of handling characteristics across individual drive modes, the car lets you fine-tune its dynamic character through an additional 729 combinations.

A low centre of gravity and well-judged suspension give it impressive body control. Turn in expecting roll and it stays flat, settling quickly into a composed stance with a precision that belies its size.

The underlying character makes more sense once you understand what this car is. The Mk2 (C590) GT 4-Door Coupé marks a new start for AMG. It isn't the firm's first EV, but it is the first based on the AMG.EA, a platform developed from scratch specifically for performance.

Its drivetrain comprises three axial-flux motors, two at the rear and one up front, working through a single-speed transmission to all four wheels. Drive is managed by AMG's 4Matic+ system, with fully variable torque distribution between each axle, while rear-wheel steering aids agility at lower speeds and stability at higher ones. Developed with British firm Yasa, those compact, disc-shaped motors are smaller and lighter yet also more power-dense and faster-responding than conventional radial-flux units.

Each rear motor is controlled independently, allowing torque to be varied not just front to rear but also across the rear axle, creating a yaw response that you feel directly through the chassis.

Electrical energy comes from a large lithium ion battery mounted within the floor and centre tunnel, with direct liquid cooling at cell level. The system runs on an 800V architecture and so is capable of charging at over 500kW, but more significant is its ability to maintain stable output under sustained load.

It's not just the way it builds speed but how the new GT 4-Door Coupé communicates what it's doing that makes it so impressive. A synthesised sound and feedback system draws on the character of the original GT coupé, adapted for electric drive. As speed builds, the car feeds back through the seat as much as through the controls, a transducer delivering vibrations that rise and fall with throttle load, in the manner of a V8. So it's not simply an acoustic overlay: it recreates the rhythm of an engine in both sound and sensation, linking your inputs more closely to the car's responses.

A synthetic sequential shift function adds another layer of character. Operated via steering wheel-mounted paddles, it mimics shifting through a conventional gearbox. It's artificial but effective, adding a sense of cadence. The effect is reinforced by a centrally mounted rev counter, its needle sweeping in step with the rising and falling vibrations. You don't have to use it: the car can be driven in near-silence. But when engaged, it draws you further into the process.

Only once you begin to explore the chassis more fully does the broader depth of the GT 4-Door Coupé become clear. Through a tightening left-hander, come back onto the throttle and the rear axle sharpens your line, taking some of the load away from the front. Add a little more and its rear end moves progressively, without any sudden breakaway. It's easy to hold and just as easy to gather up again, the car settling quickly and cleanly as you unwind the steering.

On subsequent runs, that adjustability becomes a defining trait. The rear works with you, rather than simply following the front, allowing you to shape the car's attitude with small inputs. It never feels exaggerated; it's usable and engaging.

That sense of control extends to the suspension. The standard Active Ride Control air springs with hydraulically linked dampers provide semi-active roll stabilisation by varying roll stiffness. The result is that strong body control evidence earlier without excessive stiffness.

Even beneath camouflage, the car's proportions reflect the shift to electric power. Lower, wider and longer than the current V8 model, it adopts a drawn silhouette with a long nose section, heavily curved roofline and long tail ending in a subtle, Kamm-style cut-off with active aerodynamic elements.

Inside, the impression is equally strong. The driving position is largely unchanged, retaining the same low, stretched stance, but the environment has evolved. The centre console rises higher between driver and passenger, creating a more defined cockpit, with three rotary controls sitting prominently atop it. There's a tangible analogue feel to many of the controls, the rotary dials providing precise mechanical feedback.

Ahead, a single panel integrates the 10.2in instrument display and 14.0in touchscreen, angled towards the driver, with clear separation of functions - and the passenger's touchscreen doesn't intrude. Rear space is more usable than the roofline suggests, with individual seats and recessed footwells allowing a natural seating position, while a glass roof floods the interior with light.

What emerges here isn't an electric reinterpretation of the original GT 4-Door Coupé but a fundamentally different car - one that places greater emphasis on control, interaction and consistency, while still delivering the sense of occasion expected of an AMG. 

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door Coupé prototype: verdict

A decisive reset for AMG, combining extreme pace with adjustability, involvement and a new level of feedback for a performance EV.