Let us dial things back to October 2020. Skoda India’s bossman Zac Hollis confirmed that Skoda had sold out all 1,000 units of the Karoq compact SUV allocated for the Indian market for 2020. The SUV was available for bookings since March but was launched in late-May in a single top-spec variant priced at Rs 24.99 lakh (ex-showroom India). It took Skoda only nine months to sell all 1,000 units of the Karoq despite its premium positioning which made it even more expensive than its Volkswagen sibling.
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A recent RTO filing suggest that Skoda is planning to bring back the Karoq in India. However, this time the SUV is expected to be a CKD(Completely Knocked Down) instead of a CBU(Completely Built Unit).
Zac Hollis, director of Skoda stated that the local assembly of the Karoq depends on how popular the Karoq gets and on its sales numbers. And given the fact that it got sold out in 2020, bringing it back via the CKD route only makes sense. If it does happen, it will help in lowering the cost to Skoda so there is a slight chance that the manufacturer decreases its price. The SUV was first showcased at the AutoExpo 2020 at Greater Noida earlier this year and it was able to garner a lot of attention. It was built on the MQB platform which underpins many other models including the Octavia, the Kodiaq, and the Volkswagen Tiguan All Space among others.
The exterior of the Skoda Karoq looked similar to the Kodiaq, which is no bad thing. The front-end came with traditional Skoda design elements like a butterfly grille and sleek LED headlamps with illuminated eye-lashes. In profile, the Karoq’s profile looked like a miniature of the Kodiaq while the 17-inch dual-tone alloy wheels fill up the arches nicely. Moving on to the rear, the Karoq came with slick ‘C’ shaped LED tail lamps. the customers got six colour options to choose from, which were Magic Black, Lava Blue, Brilliant Silver, Candy White, Magnetic Brown and Quartz Grey.
On the mechanical front, it was powered by the lone EA211 1.5-litre TSI EVO petrol engine paired with a 7-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission and sent power to the front wheels. This unit delivered 150 PS of power at 5,000-6,000 rpm and a peak torque of 250 Nm at 1,500-3,500 rpm. The company claimed that the SUV can hit 0 to 100 Kmph in just nine seconds before approaching a top speed of 202 Kmph. It was equipped with active cylinder management which enhances the fuel efficiency to provide company claimed figures of 14.49 Kmpl.
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In terms of safety, the Karoq will be offered with some segment-leading safety features such as 9 airbags, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), MKB (Multi Collision Brake), TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System), Parktronic system, ABS with EBD, Brake Assist, Hill Start Assist and more.