Sector: Lower medium Price (July 2013): €16,640 – €30,510 Fuel: 3.8 – 6.7l/100km CO2: 99 – 156g/km

For Skoda, Simply Clever is more than just a slogan – it's the backbone of everything the company does. It means that while the Octavia Combi offers few real surprises, it’s full of neatly executed ideas, which make this an incredibly versatile load carrier.

This is a big part of Skoda’s European sales footprint. It’s the biggest seller in its segment across Europe, and in some markets sales are split almost identically between this and the hatchback.

Simplicity is even extended to the model range, which in most markets follows the same Active, Ambition and Elegance range structure employed across the Skoda range. Engines comprise three petrols and two diesels, with four-wheel drive available on selected units depending on the market. A Greenline package, which cuts fuel consumption to 3.3l/100km and CO2 to 87g/km on the 1.6 TDI, will be available on all trim levels by the end of the year.

Stylistically, it’s crisp, elegant and simple in its design, if a little conservative inside and out. The plastics are soft touch, the doors close with a solid, Germanic thunk and everything is logically laid out.

But beneath that simplicity, the Octavia is a brilliant piece of design. The boot floor covers a compartment big enough to store roof bars, and drops with a tug on a handle at the back to offer extra loading height. Not only does the rear bench fold forward, but the front passenger seat will too, offering up to a 3.0-metre flat load length from tailgate to dashboard.

With bag hooks just inside the tailgate, a floor which folds into partitions and optional cargo nets to hold loads in place, the Octavia is almost as flexible inside as you'd expect from an MPV.

We tested the car with a near empty boot, but the smaller engines, a 1.2 TSI and 1.6 TDI both with 103bhp, are ample for a car of this size. It’s these which will make up the bulk of sales, in retail and fleet respectively, but the larger 1.4 and 1.8 TSI and 2.0 TDI are better suited to those needing to haul heavier loads.

Four-wheel drive is offered on the 2.0 TDI in all European markets, while availability on the 1.6 TDI and 1.8 TSI varies. It’s a clever Haldex system, which only sends power to the rear wheels when required, and while it’s best suited to the 2.0 TDI it doesn’t blunt even the 1.6 TDI’s performance too heavily even on steep inclines. The big sacrifice is in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, which rise from 3.7l/100km and 110g/km to 4.9l/100km and 124g/km on the 2.0 TDI.

Ride height is identical to the two-wheel drive models, which limits this to smooth but loose surfaces, but an outdoor pack and rugged Scout version are both coming soon.

Four-wheel drive Octavias also benefit from a multi-link rear suspension setup, compared to the simplistic torsion bar fitted to their two-wheel drive equivalents. Aside from the vRS, which launches this summer with diesel and petrol engines and in both body styles, these are the only Octavias to get the more advanced setup. Ride quality even with the torsion beam is perfectly respectable though.

This isn’t a car which makes your hair stand on end or your pulse race – at least not until the vRS arrives this summer. But it’s a model which delights on design and packaging, offering a more appealing workhorse than a C-segment MPV.

Verdict

With solid build quality, plenty of ingenious storage solutions and ultra-efficient engines, it’s all the car you'll ever need, for a lot less money than you'd think.