Skoda announced its plans to launch a sub-4 meter SUV in the Indian market earlier this year. The sub-4 meter compact SUV segment is one of the most competitive segments and consists of vehicles like the Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Kia Sonet, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger and the upcoming Mahindra XUV 3XO. After announcing the new SUV, the Czech car manufacturer invited fans and followers online to name the new SUV. The manufacturer has now shortlisted 10 names for its upcoming SUV.
The manufacturer had actually run an online competition asking users to name the new SUV. They initially shortlisted 15 names and later finally selected 10 from them. They finalized these names from 2000,000 social media posts. The names that Skoda has shortlisted are Kylaq, Kymaq, Kwiq, Kariq, Kyroq, Kosmiq, Kaiq, Kayaq, KliqAnd Karmiq.
The only condition that Skoda had when starting this competition was that the name of the SUV should start with K and end with Q. The names mentioned here also meet the conditions. Of the 10 names mentioned here, 5 names were already suggested by Skoda on the day of the announcement. One lucky winner, whose name will be chosen by Skoda for their upcoming SUV, will receive this new SUV as a gift and will also get the opportunity to visit Skoda headquarters in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic.
Skoda’s upcoming sub-4 meter SUV is based on the same platform as the Kushaq and Slavia. It will use the MQB Ao IN platform designed specifically for Indian models. Skoda has already started work on the SUV and the test mules have already been spotted test driving a few times.
The Skoda SUV will have an upright-looking front end with Skoda’s signature grille extending to the dual-function LED daytime running lights. There are vertical slats on the front grille of the recently discovered test mule. The headlights are mounted on the bumper of the SUV and it is a dual-chamber LED unit.
The side profile of the SUV is similar to the Kushaq and other Skoda SUVs in the market. There are bright LED taillights at the rear. The design of the taillight of the upcoming Skoda SUV is similar to the design of the Volkswagen Polo. The test mule discovered lacked features such as a rear window defogger and wiper, a shark fin antenna, a sunroof or any camera.
The test mule spotted was probably a lower spec variant and the higher versions of the same will have more features. To conclude, the upcoming SUV is expected to be a mini version of the Kushaq.
Skoda’s upcoming SUV will be the manufacturer’s most affordable product for the Indian market. The SUV is powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which we have already seen in the Kushaq and Slavia. This engine produces 115 HP and 178 Nm of maximum torque.
The SUV is offered with a choice of a 6-speed manual transmission and a 6-speed automatic transmission. The SUV is expected to reach Indian shores sometime in 2025. There is currently no information as to whether Volkswagen would also launch a version of this SUV after introducing Skoda’s SUV.
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