This is the Skoda Vision RS, a concept car due to make its debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Styled by the Skoda Design team, headed up by Oliver Stefani, that is based at a villa on the banks of the Jizera river in Mladá Boleslav, the Vision RS is said to preview a future compact car from Skoda, as well as showcasing the 'next design phase' of all its vRS models. While we'd love to think it was a continuation of the Fabia vRS line, started with the Mk1 TDI in 2003 and cut off when the Mk2 TSI was retired in 2014, Skoda is adamant the third generation of its supermini doesn't need a performance model, and so in size the Vision RS makes us think of a possible replacement for the Rapid Spaceback - as the concept car is 4,356mm long, 1,810mm wide, 1,431mm tall and 2,650mm in the wheelbase. Skoda further draws attention to the Vision RS's shape, which is said to be aerodynamically optimised - a fact borne out by the diffuser and high-level spoiler at the rear of the car. Up front are slim headlights and the company's trademark grille, while the smoothed-off hatch is of interest - might this feature make it onto production Skodas in the near future? Time will tell.

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24 Aug 2018