Skoda CEO Thomas Schaefer told Autocar India that a new compact crossover – the smallest and the cheapest Skoda so far – would do well on the market of India and in many other countries.
Similar offerings already exist from Kia, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan and Toyota. All of the affordable cars from these brands are shorter than four meters in order to take advantage of a tax benefit in India. Having said that, Skoda has plans to unleash its new, still-unnamed CUV in other regions as well.
According to Schaefer, up to 70 percent of all expenses associated with creating a car falls on designing the platform, but the company already has one. It is called the MQB-A0-IN and finds use in the Kushaq and Slavia models for India (peek inside our gallery and watch the video for a closer look at the Kushaq). The new compact may end up based on a shortened version of that platform, which would make it around 250 mm (10 inches) shorter. Any specifics will have to wait, though.