Having revealed the first silhouette on October 9, Skoda today revealed the name of its new compact model – the Skoda Scala. The name comes from the Latin word ‘scala’, which means ‘stairs’ or ‘ladder’, signifying the next step forward for the Czech car manufacturer in the compact segment.

The Scala is the first Skoda production model in Europe to bear the Skoda lettering in the middle of the tailgate instead of the Skoda logo.  The Scala, according to Skoda, represents its new emotional exterior and interior design language for the first time in series production

It builds on the emotive design language of the Skoda Vision RS concept study, which recently attracted attention at the Paris Motor Show, into a production vehicle.

According to Skoda Auto CEO Bernhard Maier, “With the new Skoda Scala, we are opening a fresh chapter in Skoda’s compact class. This is a completely new development that sets standards in terms of technology, safety and design in this class. We are confident that the Scala has the best chance of redefining the A-segment for Skoda.”

Interestingly, the Scala name has a connect with India. Renault India sold the Scala sedan, a badge-engineered version of the Nissan Sunny, underpinned by Nissan’s V platform, from August 2012 onwards.  It was discontinued around end-2017 due to poor sales.