Skoda offers fleets performance for less

With oil reaching record prices, inflation on the up and a slowing economy, 2008 will prove a challenge for fleet managers trying to strike the balance between keeping costs down and continuing to provide an attractive vehicle offering to current and prospective staff.

If the cost of running your stable of sporty hatchbacks is keeping you awake at night, despair not as Skoda Finance’s latest deal on the athletic Octavia Hatch vRS FSI is here to help you balance the books.

Until the end of March Skoda’s most powerful road going machine with metallic paint will be available to business customers for £239 a month (plus VAT and initial rental) for a period of three years / 10,000 miles per annum on a contract hire agreement.

The fastest Skoda ever built, the vRS consistently delivers in an area where competitors fail – price. Strip away the window dressing and the vRS FSI is the same car underneath as a Volkswagen Golf GTI or an Audi A4 2.0T FSI – but for £3,000 to £6,000 less.

The vRS FSI comes in two engine types - the 2.0TDi which produces 170bhp and the super quick 2.0T which generates 200bhp and reaches 60mph in just seven seconds. Yet driven carefully, the vRS will return an impressive average of 35.8 mpg and emissions of 190g/km, allowing for sensible running costs.

As expected of Skoda, the Octavia vRS comes fully equipped with all the styling embellishments of a performance car (including 17-inch alloys) and a full range of comfort and safety features. As well as satisfying performance enthusiasts, the vRS wins the minds of drivers who value large boot space and comfort on long distance journeys.

Skoda Finance is also offering a rental price of £179 per month (plus VAT and initial rental) on the Octavia Classic 1.9 Tdi Hatch 105bhp and £149 per month (plus VAT and initial rental) on Roomster 1 1.4.TDI for a period of three years / 10,000 miles per annum on a contract hire agreement.

Jacqui Rowley, Brand Manager at Skoda Finance, comments: “Many businesses will be looking at ways to save money in the first quarter of 2008. Our finance deal offering for the beginning of the year will therefore appeal to independent businesses but also sizeable fleets who seek competitively priced vehicles without compromising performance.”