The Škoda Octavia is a small family car (C-segment) produced by the Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto since the end of 1996. It shares its name with an earlier model produced between 1959 and 1971. Four generations of the modern-era Octavia model have been introduced to date, delivered with five-door liftback or five-door estate styles only. The car is front engined, both front- or four-wheel drive are offered. Around five million units have been sold in its two decades of presence on the market. The Octavia is Škoda's most popular model; about 40% of all newly manufactured Škoda cars are Octavias.

The Volkswagen Golf Mk5 is a compact car/small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen, as the fifth generation of the Golf in three- or five-door hatchback and a five-door station wagon (2007–2009) configurations, as well as the successor to the Golf Mk4. Using the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform, the Mk5 debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003 and went on sale in Europe for the 2004 model year. While marketed as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, the GTI model in these countries was marketed simply as the Volkswagen GTI.