Seven-seat flagship SUV loses its distinguished swage line however retains MQB platform
by Chris Chilton
9 hours in the past
by Chris Chilton
Boosted by a 2021 facelift, Skoda’s massive Kodiaq carried out properly final yr, notching up 94,500 gross sales and making it the model’s second most-bought mannequin behind the perennially widespread Octavia and the little Kamiq crossover.
However the Kodiaq first appeared on the scene in 2016 and so it’s little shock that Skoda is making ready to take the covers off an all-new 2024 Kodiaq later this yr. As this take a look at automobile’s camo wrap exhibits, these covers are staying on for now, however they’re not sufficiently distracting to forestall us from noticing that we’re seeing the brand new automobile with its real manufacturing physique for the primary time.
Earlier sightings of prototype Kodiaqs have been of mules constructed across the present automobile and solely sporting disguise on the entrance and rear. The truth that this newest automobile is absolutely lined is a transparent giveaway that it’s the actual deal earlier than we’ve even acquired to the small print seen by means of that swirly pores and skin.
The obvious change seems to be the absence of distinguished swage traces on both aspect. The horizontal character line that runs from the entrance fender to the taillight, passing by means of each doorways on all sides is a Skoda household trait seen on all the pieces from the Kamiq to the Kodiaq. However these photographs present the brand new automobile has smoother sides and a pronounced shoulder slightly below the window line, as previewed by final yr’s Skoda Imaginative and prescient 7S idea.
Associated: Skoda Imaginative and prescient 7S Idea Previews Electrical Kodiaq Substitute With 370-Mile Vary
The 2024 Kodiaq doesn’t get the 7S idea’s slick flush-fit door handles, nevertheless, and though it’s arduous to inform with all that disguise on the nostril, it doesn’t seem to borrow its entrance finish, both. The cut up lamp association seems to be just like what’s already in use on the present Kodiaq, although the rear shot reveals the taillights are actually according to the stepped-out part of the rear hatch.
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The Imaginative and prescient 7S idea was electrically-powered and factors to a future three-row massive brother to Skoda’s Enyaq EV. However the brand new Kodiaq will stick to the MQB platform and acquainted mixture of petrol and diesel engines that may embody 48-volt gentle hybrid tech and the choice of a PHEV mannequin combining a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline motor mated to a compact electrical motor that produces a mixed 268 hp (272 PS).
