News about a hatchback variant of the Lavida first emerged in the second half of 2011. Since then, renderings of it have been seen but not the real thing–until now. Or, it just did not get recognized. According to auto.sohu.com, the "Skoda station wagon" previously spied on Chinese roads was the upcoming hatchback, called "Lavida Sportback," in disguise.
Shanghai-VW hid the real identify of the Sportback through a clever makeover. Besides re-badging, both the front grille and rear lamps were modified to evoke a Skoda. Yet, Lavida-only features are recognizable in the headlights, front bumper, door handles, character lines, and alloy wheels.
With a relatively large rear chamber, the Sportback lies somewhere between a 5-door hatchback and a station wagon. The design intends to achieve a balance between two objectives: providing a lot of storage space and creating a sports feel.
Lavida Sportback is to share the sedan version’s 2610mm wheelbase and 1.4T/1.8/2.0 powertrain options. It will be released in next May. According to a report from May this year, Shanghai-VW set the (overly) ambitious goal of selling 480,000 Lavidas in 2013, 18% of which were expected to come from the Sportback.
A best seller in China, VW Lavida had 194,954 deliveries in the first ten months of 2012.