The handover of the first fifty Kodiaq cars in police colors and with a specific protective frame at the front took place this morning at the Skoda polygon in Úhelnice near Mladá Boleslav. In addition to the top management of the brand, police chief Martin Vondrášek and Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister Vít Rakušan also attended the event.
Interestingly, the Kodiaq is heading into service in a specification that a mere mortal could not afford. The cars are based on the basic Active equipment level, but surprisingly they have an adaptive chassis and mainly a 2.0 TSI 180 kW engine with automatic DSG transmission and all-wheel drive, which was reserved only for the sporty RS version. Mladá Boleslav never had such a car on offer.
The Kodiaq is also homologated as a special police car in this specification. The front protective frame was designed by Skoda specifically for the given model, the car passed all mandatory crash tests and received other modifications. In addition to the frame itself, which facilitates the so-called PIT maneuver (thanks to which it is difficult to run over), additional protection of the chassis and drivetrain is also required. The interior, on the other hand, was designed to allow the transport of detainees and to accommodate all equipment, including long weapons, without any problems.
Photo: Škoda
The first fifty pieces are signed up for service!
“The gradual replacement of old cars with new ones is an absolute necessity, and it’s great that we are managing to continue the replacement,” Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said on the spot. “New, high-quality and specially equipped vehicles are a guarantee that the police will always be able to intervene where the life or health of citizens is in immediate danger,” he adds.
The Škoda brand has been cooperating with the domestic security forces for a long time, since 1993 it has supplied the Czech police and the Ministry of the Interior with over 23,000 vehicles of various types – specially modified as well as serial ones. For example, Octavia, Scala and Superb have recently entered service, and now the largest Kodiaq is joining them. Almost three hundred police SUVs will be taken over by the front line patrols before the end of this year.
