Skoda showed off its all-new Rapid Spaceback hatch at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show, and it’s headed to Australia by mid-2014 powered by a handful of frugal petrol and diesel engines.
Bridging the gap between the Skoda Fabia light car and the mid-size Octavia, the Rapid will not be offered in sedan form here, the Volkswagen sister brand relying instead on the new-look hatch to entice Australian small-car buyers.
Expected to be priced from under $20,000 in Australia, the new Rapid Spaceback will take on the Hyundai i30 and Mazda3 in the booming small car category. The affordable European model shows off a stocky new design and can be optioned with one of the largest glass roofs in its class, spanning two square metres.
Shown alongside the face-lifted Yeti compact SUV, which is also due here in the first half of next year, the Rapid hatch has a 415-litre boot that expands to 1380 litres and can be fitted with a split-level cargo floor.
Engine options include a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine worth 77kW/175Nm, a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine banging out 90kW/200Nm and a 66kW 1.6-litre turbo-diesel that emits just 99g/km of CO2, making it one of the greenest cars in its class.
Unlike some other brands in the Volkswagen Group, the budget Skoda brand is likely to get the raw end of the stick when it comes to employing electrified powertrains. Despite VW Group supremo Martin Winterkorn stating he wants the group to be number one in EV sales by 2018, Skoda has not signed off on an EV or hybrid plan.
Skoda's chief of technical development, Dr Frank Welsch, told motoring.com.au that a Skoda EV or hybrid will happen, but not for the foreseeable future.
"Emissions targets gets lower and lower so one day we will get hybrid and electric. But I cannot say which year," he said.
Welsh indicated Skoda will not play an early role in the VW Group plan to be the world’s dominant EV player, because e-technology is so far too expensive for the price positioning of the budget brand's vehicles.
He said "we have no decision yet" on a timeline for Skoda EVs, adding that such vehicles also hinge on market demand. But insisted Skoda’s frugal downsized petrol and diesel engines were keeping its fleet green enough.
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