The new Škoda Kodiaq live for the first time: We have already sat in it! So much news makes my head spin

Seven years, one month and three days – that much time has passed since the world premiere of the first generation of the Kodiaq model, the first seven-seater SUV from Škoda. The event took place in Berlin and Škoda spared nothing. In addition to approximately six hundred journalists from more than thirty countries, singer, actor and painter Karel Gott and moderator Leoš Mareš also participated. Hard to believe it’s been so long…

I don’t know if it was intentional or just a coincidence, but the world premiere of the second generation Skoda Kodiaq is taking place in Berlin today. We have a colleague Vlaď Kader on site, who will tell you how it looked at the premiere in the article, but you can read the first impressions of the new SUV now. I actually went to see the Kodiaq in the middle of September in the studio in Mnichov Hradiště, but I had to wait a little for the real “wow”.

At first glance, a clear Škoda car

Škoda’s designers take great care to ensure that every new Škoda looks like a Škoda, regardless of whether they design it on a clean sheet of paper or whether it is an evolution of an existing design direction. This can be clearly seen on the Vision 7S concept, the first Škoda car to feature features called Modern Solid. The automaker has never produced anything like this before, but at first glance you know it’s a Škoda.

For the new generation of the Kodiaq model, the inspiration from the past seemed too much to me at first. “It looks almost the same as the old Kodiaq, after all.” I said out loud, in hindsight I really wouldn’t have been able to talk myself out of it. The headlights are still horizontally divided, the front bumper immediately reminded me of the first one are you or after the facelift, the light bar passing through the radiator grille is not such a revolution, and the aerodynamic cast covers are already familiar from the air. But the hood is completely different.

But then I went around the car and my ass totally got me. Stylized little girl it remained in the rear lamps, the bottom is newly connected by a red bar, which is not illuminated. In addition, the headlights protrude from the body similar to the Kamiq and give the impression of a longer rear. The novelty is a contrasting panel on the last pillar of the body, which has a purely visual purpose and in the Sportline version (in the gallery) will be in piano lacquer. It looks quite wide, but the body pillar actually remains subtle and doesn’t restrict the view diagonally to the rear.

It’s a handsome car, easily recognizable and robust as an SUV should be. It gives the impression that it has grown by half a segment between generations, but you really have to evaluate this only when you meet in person. At the same time, the Kodiaq has practically not changed in terms of dimensions. At 4758mm long, it is 61mm longer than its predecessor, but the width, height and wheelbase remain the same. Thanks to the extension of the rear overhang, the basic volume of the trunk has increased by 75 liters to 910 liters, for the seven-seat version we are talking about a basic volume of up to 845 liters. The benefit of the novelty is also an increase in the space above the heads of passengers in the third row by 15 mm. You’ll know it, trust me.

The displays don’t work yet

Škoda revealed the interior of the new Kodiaq earlier, so the head-up display, the 12.9-inch central infotainment display, and the automatic transmission selector under the steering wheel are not so shocking now. After all, the Kodiaq will not offer a manual transmission at all, so the lever in its traditional place has given way in favor of storage spaces. They are blessed, there are practical blinds on the central tunnel (at least they don’t get dusty in the mailboxes) and finally someone thought of equipping the induction phone charger with cooling.

The materials are very “eco” and nice to look at and touch. Everything you normally touch is soft and pleasant, no hard plastic. The front seats are large, have manually adjustable seat length and ventilation and heating. The seats are also heated in the back, ventilation is still not played in this segment.

In recent years, journalists and the debating public have liked to dig into everything that has a touch control, although in everyday life we ​​would like to touch almost everything. According to Škoda’s designers, this hype came late and wasn’t loud enough, but it was enough to make them pull their noses at Škoda and come up with a compromise between classic controls and a touch function. Smart Dials controls were created, which can be found not only in the Kodiaq, but also in the new Superb.

These controllers were already premiered in the Škoda Vision 7S concept and, at least statically, they are genius. They are rotatable, equipped with a display in the middle and control many functions. The controls for the driver and front passenger set the temperature of the air conditioning and the heating and ventilation of the seats, the middle control affects the ventilation speed, direction of ventilation, air conditioning settings, audio volume, driving modes and map zoom. In addition, it is configurable, with the user able to save four of the six available functions (this number was found to be optimal).

I say on purpose that static controls are brilliant, because when the car is not moving, you have a chance to focus on the controls in peace and not deal with the surrounding traffic. But driving controls? We will talk about that only in the second quarter of next year, because we won’t be driving the new Škoda Kodiaq until then.

As I already indicated, there is also a five- and seven-seater interior, as is customary for Kodiaqs. We had a five-figure version available in the studio, but I have no doubt that with the first editorial tests there will be a lot of videos on the Internet of burly journalists, bloggers and the like trying to squeeze into the third row and then write that it is actually OK, but they wouldn’t want to go too far like that. At the same time, they could easily spread out in the second row, where there is an excess of space in all directions and the entry space is so large that even Eddie Murphy in the role of Professor Sherman Klump would have a good time in it. I was no different, check out the archive video…

Still normal engines

The Škoda Kodiaq will be offered with five combustion engines: two petrol, two diesel and one plug-in hybrid. The petrol units represent the basic 1.5 TSI with a mild-hybrid system and ACT+ cylinder deactivation (110 kW) and a four-cylinder 2.0 TSI (150 kW), combined with all-wheel drive. The diesel 2.0 TDI will be available in a weaker version (110 kW) as front-wheel drive and a stronger one (142 kW) with 4×4 drive.

The plug-in hybrid 1.5 TSI iV with a system output of 150 kW receives a battery with a capacity of 25.7 kWh, with which you can drive more than 100 kilometers on electricity. It can be charged alternately at 11 kW, but it can also charge directly up to 50 kilowatts. The plug-in hybrid has front-wheel drive and a six-speed DSG gearbox. The other versions have a seven-speed gearbox.

Safety first

The second generation Kodiaq offers up to nine airbags and state-of-the-art safety features. As standard, the car has a driver’s and passenger’s airbag, side and head airbags and a central airbag. Rear side airbags are optional, along with proactive occupant protection and emergency assist. Proactive protection closes open windows, activates hazard lights and pre-tensions seat belts in the event of an imminent crash. Emergency Assist reduces the risk of an accident if the driver is unable to drive, turns on the warning lights and starts braking.

Assisted driving 2.5 is available as an option with lane assist, adaptive cruise control and lane guidance up to 60 km/h. A new feature is the remote control of the car via bluetooth via a smartphone application – for example, to park out of a narrow space. When driving like this, the car monitors its surroundings, recognizes obstacles or pedestrians and automatically avoids a collision with them.

When, where and for how much?

The world premiere of the new Škoda Kodiaq is just a continuation of the long journey it will have to travel before reaching customers. Pre-sales should start at the end of this year, the driving presentation for journalists will take place in the second quarter of 2024, and the market launch is planned for May 2024, according to our information.

No one will tell you the exact basic price now, because the new Škoda Kodiaq has only been officially in the world for a while. Even the range model in the currently lowest Style Exclusive equipment (previously rather the middle of the offer) costs CZK 1,069,900 and the top are you or 2.0 TSI/180 kW starts at 1.4 million crowns.

I would be very surprised if the new product came under a million, but perhaps Škoda will surprise. I’m just reminding you that in 2016 the basic version 1.4 TSI/110 kW Active cost 677,900 CZK…