Skoda's next big thing

Full-size Kodiaq SUV headlines Skoda’s push upmarket. India launch late next year.

- Sirish Chandran

SKODA’S INDIA OPERATIONS HAVE been in clean-up mode for the longest time, but things are now moving up a gear. Close on the heels of the ₹100 crore investment in upgrading the service network complete with an image makeover for the dealerships, a slew of apps along with menu pricing to ensure transparency of service costs and even a standard 4 year / 100,000km warranty, comes the (much-needed) new model onslaught. Over the next 12 months the Rapid will get a facelift and a kitted-out Monte Carlo edition while the Octavia will (finally) get a performance RS version and a black… err… Black edition, but what has the potential to take Skoda back up the desirability charts is the Kodiaq full-size SUV.

Now Skoda haven’t had a happy history with SUVs in India, the Yeti despite doing extremely well internationally failed to catch on in India primarily due to its compact proportions and not-so-compact pricing. Skoda though have learnt their lessons and the Kodiaq, while sitting above the Superb in its line-up, will be priced rationally and as for its size, nobody will have any complaints.