斯柯达将在九月开幕的巴黎车展发布七座SUV Kodiaq，最近车厂开始在纽伯格林赛道测试这款车。由于该车将采用大众家族的MQB平台，因此与同样采用该平台的西亚特Ateca和新一代途观有很多相似之处。不过，这款车比另外两款车要大很多，内部空间和行李箱容积也是同级车型中最宽敞的。从车厂先前发布的设计草图看，新车设计并没有太多吸引力。而车厂内部人士也表示，这款车主要强调功能性而非抢眼的外观设计。至于动力系统，预计将采用一系列四缸涡轮汽油和柴油引擎。前轮驱动仍为标配，而某些高功率引擎可搭配全轮驱动系统。在该车生命周期后半程还将增加插电混动版本，预计该车将于2019年投产。

 

Seven-seat Skoda Kodiaq SUV pushed hard around the Ring

VW’s Czech brand Skoda is certainly lacking in the crossover/SUV department taking into account it only has the aging Yeti on sale. That’s about to change in just a few months when the seven-seat Kodiaq will be out, with the official reveal set for September ahead of the model’s market launch planned for late this year. The new seven-seater from Skoda will be joined in a couple of years by a next-gen Yeti which was spied for the very first time earlier this week.

 

Yet another member of the growing MQB family, the Kodiaq will have a lot in common with the SEAT Ateca and the new VW Tiguan. However, it’s going to be substantially larger than the two and will have the roomiest cabin in its class. In addition, the trunk will also be segment-leading, but that’s not really surprising since most of Skoda’s models excel in that area.

 

Although these sketches released recently by Skoda are very promising, we are not expecting the real deal to be as nice taking into account Skoda’s designs are not what you would call exciting. The same thing can be said about the company’s interiors which focus more on functionality rather than on being eye candy.

 

In terms of engines, expect the usual array of turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline and diesel units seen in the Kodiaq’s Spanish and German siblings. A front-wheel-drive arrangement is going to be standard, but some of the beefier engines will be paired to an all-wheel-drive layout as you would expect from a large, three-row SUV.

 

The conventionally-powered versions will be joined later during the model’s life cycle by a plug-in hybrid model. The eco-friendly Kodiaq is expected to see the light of production day in 2019 when Skoda will reportedly introduce a similar derivative of its flagship model, the Superb.