Not sure when the St cupra is available but the press have photos of it so probably not far away.  It's still smaller then the hatch octy by over 100 litres with seats down.

 

As for big discounts, I get the same % on Skoda ( military discount) so the higher list means it's more costly for me.

 

I'm only looking as the vrs feels like it may never arrive..... The Leon fr St is about the same price once specd similarly but is slower and smaller.... The cupra St.... well the vrs WILL arrive before that, be bigger and cheaper.   Cupra looks fun though and it would sell well.

And it's got a Skoda badge on it. For that reason, and because I'm looking thru my Skoda branded rose tinted glasses, it trumps every other car out there. I'm getting bored of this sole reason why a Skoda trumps every other performance model in the VAG range, despite being the least out and out sports car of them all. For those people, if you want to drive something spacious that belongs in the fast lane of a motorway with a Skoda badge on it, just get a bloody Ford Transit van and swap its badge for a Skoda one. For Pete's sake space isn't everything! If only I got a pound for every time someone said "Ahhh, but an Octy's got more space"!!!

 

Where is this 'fast lane' you speak of? 

 

It may surprise you to learn that many people buy a family orientated car to transport a family and therefore welcome and maybe even need the space in the rear. Strange but true. 

And it's got a Skoda badge on it. For that reason, and because I'm looking thru my Skoda branded rose tinted glasses, it trumps every other car out there. I'm getting bored of this sole reason why a Skoda trumps every other performance model in the VAG range, despite being the least out and out sports car of them all. For those people, if you want to drive something spacious that belongs in the fast lane of a motorway with a Skoda badge on it, just get a bloody Ford Transit van and swap its badge for a Skoda one. For Pete's sake space isn't everything! If only I got a pound for every time someone said "Ahhh, but an Octy's got more space"!!!

but fact is IT DOES have more room which to me (and allegedly to most family car buyers) matters a lot.

And when I was choosing my car I wanted a new model, a family car with lots of space in the rear, a good petrol engine which would be able to pull well with limited consumption and somewhat fun to drive, and of course to offer good value for the money (also considering the re-sell values). Didn't need a racing car, just a car that would go well enough and offering plenty of space.

 

I didn't care about the brand (I never had a skoda before) so I sat in the leon and in the golf, too - in the end decided the octy was the best compromise for all my needs - I prefered picking the elegance with extras over a "naked" vrs for the same money.

 

tl;dr: to each his own.

A lot of this comes back to my point in a similar thread - theres big and theres bigger. Theres good quality and then theres better quality. It all boils down to what you deem good enough ie yes, the Octy has a bigger boot (which personally would come in very useful for our touring holidays) but is the Leon boot big enough? Or the quality of the Golf's interior is better than the Leon's but is the Leons adequate for day to day use? On both counts Id say that the Leon (in ST form at least) would be more than adequate for me in terms of quality and space.

Going to be looking very closely at the Leon this time round when it is car change time..