Skoda will introduce a new design language to its vehicles this fall – and it’s already a culmination of how the interface can be applied to a Electric SUV.
At the Czech brand’s annual press conference, outgoing CEO Thomas Schäfer reported on the difficult second half of 2021 as the global semiconductor crisis affected Skoda’s production. But the company still reported an improved profit margin on sales of 6.1% and generated more than a billion euros in profit – up from 756 million euros in 2020.
Schäfer revealed that Skoda is aiming to further modernize its brand by 2022 and says that the new design language – labeled ‘Modern Solid’ – will be its focus. “You’ll see a ‘great’ moment for our competitors and customers,” he said.
The keynote was accompanied by a slide showing a mostly blurred image of an SUV – but with the front area of the car in focus, it was revealed that it had a grille characteristic of an electric vehicle. . Most likely the model involved is a concept designed to preview the new design language, but the Czech company also has a history of not releasing any show cars that are not representative of the production models. final.
It’s hard to judge the scale of the car in the trailer, but our exclusive image explains factors like wheelbase and wheelbase to show a car around 4.5 meters long. – shorter than Skoda’s current EV, Enyaqbut longer than the likes VW‘S ID.3 hatchback car.
Schäfer reiterated in his conference remarks that his team already has “three more EVs smaller than the Enyaq” – although at least one of these is believed to be a much smaller vehicle, based on the MEB platform. Entry is cheaper and unlikely to appear before 2025 or even 2026.
He said that the launch of the new language – presumably based on the car in the teaser image – is planned for September and admitted to Auto Express that the new approach is towards electric vehicles. “We’re going to put it first with electric vehicles,” he said. “That will be the focus. We can then split it onto other vehicles, but in the second half of the decade there won’t be so much on ICE [combustion-engined] anyway. ”
Schäfer also revealed that the next generation of Skoda’s Kodiaq The SUV, due out in 2024, could match a plug-in hybrid powertrain, though he ruled out prospects as recent as last year. “We keep looking at it,” he admitted. “The outlook in the EU really doesn’t help, because plug-in hybrids won’t be supported in the future. It would be very expensive to put it in transport if there was no market for it then. ”
He added, “The technology is available in the team, and the platform is also available. We just got our upgraded Kodiaq last year, so we’ll still have time to decide if we’ll use it on our next vehicle. ”
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