Skoda Kushaq compact SUV's production version rendered

Skoda’s next vehicle for the Indian market will be the Kushaq which will debut on 18th March. Skoda will host a live event to unveil the Kushaq. The SUV should hit the showroom floor in the mid of the year as per Zac Hollis, director of Sales, Service & Marketing of Skoda Auto. The Kushaq will be the first car in the India 2.0 Strategy planned by Volkswagen and Skoda. The mid-size SUV was first announced in 2018 and it has been specifically developed with localization and the Indian market in mind. However, till now there have only been camouflaged spy shots of the production-spec Kushaq. Now, here we have a render of the Kushaq based on the official sketches that were released by Skoda Auto. The render has been done by Shoeb R. Kalania for IAB and it gives us a good idea about how the new SUV will look like.

We can see that the Kushaq is heavily based on the Vision IN Concept that was showcased at Auto Expo 2020. In the render we can see that the SUV gets the split headlamp design which is very popular these days. There is a sleek headlamp with LED projector setup and just below that there is a halogen foglamps which should also serve the function of cornering lamps. The centre of the front fascia is taken by Skoda’s butterfly grille with vertical slats and a chrome surround. The bonnet is sculpted which helps in enhancing the stance of the SUV. In the lower, half we get a wide airdam and a silver faux skid plate.

At the side, we get a massive alloy wheels with the same design that we have seen on the Octavia RS. The door handles are sleek, so they do not bulge outside of the body work. It also gets roof rails, flared wheel arches and blacked-out B-pillar. The SUV is finished in Bluish Grey colour which does look nice. The rear of the SUV is not showcased in the render.

Also read: Ford Focus and Focus ST premium, high performance hatchbacks coming to India in 2021

Equipment and features

Skoda will be offering features like automatic headlamps, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, automatic climate control, tyre pressure monitoring system, hill hold control, multi-function steering wheel and a lot more. We are also expecting Skoda to offer a digital instrument cluster on the higher variants. The touchscreen infotainment system will come with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and MyŠKODA Connect, which is a connected car technology developed by Skoda. While dual airbags will be standard, the curtain airbags will be optional. Electronic Stability Control will be standard on the Kushaq.

Engine and Transmission

Skoda Kushaq will come with two petrol engine options. There will be a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder TSI and a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder TSI petrol engine. The 1.0-litre TSI will produce 110 PS of max power and 175 Nm of peak torque. It will be offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine puts out 150 PS of max power and 250 Nm. It will be offered with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The 1.5-litre TSI engine will be offered with the higher variants only.