Skoda Slavia is positioned slightly above the Hyundai Verna and Honda City, in India. It is not intended to be a direct replacement for the Rapid. Skoda India has stated that its next new model will be unveiled later this year in the country. The sedan will be a worldwide model, which will debut and initially be offered in India. A competition also has been announced for aspiring Indian designers. The new Skoda sedan will be the second all-new Skoda to be launched this year, and it will be based on the MQB A0 IN platform. It is expected to go on sale in the beginning of next year.
What is the Skoda Camouflage Contest?
In the run-up to the international debut of the new Skoda sedan, the European company has set a competition for emerging Indian designers to create a camouflage for the vehicle. The competition will be open for entries until August 18, 2021. The top five entries will be chosen by the judges, which will be announced on August 23, 2021. A single winner will be chosen from the top five shortlists.
Gurpratap Boparai, managing director of SAVWIPL; Zac Hollis, brand director of Skoda Auto India; and Oliver Stefani, head of design of Skoda Auto are among the judges for this competition. Anyone above the age of 18 is eligible to participate. They can enter the contest by going to www.camowithskoda.com and registering and submitting their design. According to Skoda, the winners will get the opportunity to meet Oliver Stefani, the company’s head of design, at the company’s headquarters in Prague, and the winning design will be put on a future Skoda sedan and shown across the country. The second-place finisher will receive a design tablet, while the following three finalists will receive Skoda gift bags.
What do we know about the New Skoda Sedan so far?
Since over a year, Skoda has been intensively testing this new sedan in India. The next Skoda sedan will be called the Skoda Slavia, according to insiders, and will not be a direct replacement for the ageing Rapid car, which is being phased out. The forthcoming Skoda Slavia sedan, based on the localised MQB-A0-IN platform, is expected to be roughly 4,480mm long, significantly longer than the current-generation Rapid (4,413mm). When it debuts, it is likely to boast the segment’s longest wheelbase (2,651mm).
Two TSI turbo-petrol engines will power the new Skoda Slavia sedan. The first is a 115hp, 1.0-litre, three-cylinder TSI petrol engine (from the EA211 family) with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission driving the front wheels. The larger 1.5-litre four-cylinder TSI engine, which produces 150 horsepower and powerful torque of 250 Nm, is projected to give Skoda’s sedan class-leading performance. A quick-shifting dual-clutch automatic transmission will be standard on the 1.5 TSI.
The future Volkswagen Virtus, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, and Toyota Yaris will be competitors for the 2022 Rapid.
