Kiwi could be a customer of the Skoda Crossover with a built-in budget and was originally created purely for India.
Skoda NZ boss Rodney Gilead is keen to bring a small kushak here and says plans to make it available in the second half of 2023 are currently on track.
Prices are likely to be in the low $ 30,000 range, which is thousands of dollars cheaper than the $ 38,490 Scala hatchback, which is currently the cheapest car in New Zealand’s range, so Kushak can get here. Some practical adjustments are needed, mainly shipping.
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Kushaq is manufactured in India for the Indian market, but it may be on its way here as an extension of the budget.
Kushaq was created for a costly country, but Gilard visited a factory in Pune in May, where the opportunity to drive enhances all the key elements of the design and the driving feel built. Equivalent to Europe and says it’s a procurement point for all other Skoda sold here.
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“Once you enter that place, you may be in a factory anywhere in Europe. Everything is the same standard.”
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Skoda’s latest “starting with S and ending with Q” name comes from the Sanskrit king or emperor “Kushak”.
Kushaq uses a revised version of Skoda’s current cheapest car, the Kamiq crossover that arrived last year, and the latest Volkswagen Group small car featured in the Fabia hatchback just launched here. Both are $ 39,990.
The version in Girard’s field of view has a 1.0-liter engine, traditional automatic instead of a direct shift gearbox, and less features.
“It will be an entry-level SUV, an entry-level product of our brand,” he said.
“Small SUVs are becoming more and more important globally and in this market. Kamiku is very sporty, mostly both crossovers and hatches, but Kushak is a more true SUV.”
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Even the entry cow has all the features you would expect from a modern Skoda.
Pune is not expected to be the source of the latest Skoda, such as the Enyaq Full Electric, which will be available next year, but it has sufficient production capacity, is enthusiastic about exports, and is suffering from a conflicting semiconductor shortage. Not to other Skoda. It has also not been damaged by the war in Ukraine, the supply base for VW Group brand wire harnesses.
“They seem to have no shortage of semiconductors and are basically making virtually everything for Indian cars,” Gillard said. “I have to say I was very impressed.”
Skoda designed Kushaq to counter the rise of compact SUVs specifically designed for India, such as Nissan and Renault.
Like many small Skodas, it is available in a variety of trim levels, including the high-end sports-themed Monte Carlo specification with the same 110kW 1.5-liter engine and 7-speed dual-clutch direct shift transmission. New Fabia.
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Kushaq is smaller than Kamiq and is the smallest currently offered by SUV Skoda here.
Gillard says he prefers to ignore that treatment and offer a crisp with a low-cost standard trim with a 3-cylinder 1.0-liter 85kW engine and a 6-speed automatic.
With a length of 4221 mm, a width of 1760 mm and a height of 1612 mm, the Kushaq is 20 mm shorter, 33 mm narrower and 59 mm higher than Kamiq, but both have a 2651 mm wheelbase.
The latter depends on the MQB-A0-IN platform of the Indian market model. This is a more cost-effective Indian variant of the MQBA0 architecture that underpins Fabia, Kamiq, and other VW group models.
Electronic stability control is standard equipment throughout India’s first Kushak series, while other standard or optional assist features include multi-collision braking, hill hold assist, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors. Includes, reverse camera and tires. Pressure monitoring.
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Kushaq is included in the Indian market-specific version of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform.
Front side and side curtain airbags appear to be limited to the option list, but you can use up to 6 airbags.
Due to the lack of adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist, forward collision warning, and autonomous emergency braking, we cannot ensure the 5-star crash test rating found on all other Skodas sold here.
The car design is derived from the 2020 concept Vision IN, which provides straighter and upright proportions than Skoda’s other soft loaders. Otherwise, it contains all of the brand’s current design trademarks.
This model has recently been upgraded to a 10-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, but like Fabia, the speedometer and tachometer are analog rather than rendered as a digital display. ..