The top of Volkswagen-owned Czech carmaker Skoda has admitted slowing demand for electrical autos (EVs) has led the model to revise its future mannequin plans, with petrol energy given a keep of execution.
Chatting with UK publication Autocar, Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer stated the corporate’s earlier goal of launching 4 new EVs inside the subsequent two years has undergone changes resulting from market calls for.
“To be completely trustworthy, with the slowdown of the transformation into battery-electric autos, we’re revisiting that [EV timeline],” Mr Zellmer stated.
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“We’re checking the sequence of these automobiles. The cadence now could be we’ve had the Enyaq Coupe, the Elroq, the subsequent one is the Epiq, and the subsequent one down the road would be the SUV, the 7S you’ve seen the idea automobile of.
“After that – it could possibly be 2027, 2028 – we’re aiming for an Octavia property.”
Final 12 months, Skoda teased six electrical idea automobiles, all of which had been deliberate to launch by 2026.
These included the Elroq (unveiled this week), facelifts for the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupe, the Epiq (an idea of which was subsequently revealed this 12 months), an electrical wagon (now understood to put on the Octavia badge), and a manufacturing model of the 7S Idea.
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7S-based SUV -
Electrical Octavia wagon
The delayed launch of the electrical Octavia wagon locations it nearer to the on-sale date of the ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf, which is now reportedly due in 2028.
Volkswagen has historically launched the brand new Golf first earlier than its Octavia cousin follows, with the 2 fashions sharing the identical underpinnings for the previous handful of generations.
These revised EV plans additionally influence Skoda’s lineup of petrol-powered fashions, with Mr Zellmer telling Autocar the model has primarily prolonged the lifetime of three small autos by three years.
“Initially, we stated that we had been going to section out the Fabia, Kamiq and the Scala by 2027, however we’ve got now green-lighted these automobiles to stick with us till the top of the last decade, as a result of the [EV sales] slowdown is going on as we converse,” Mr Zellmer stated.
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Kamiq
“We’ve all the time stated that we might cater to what shoppers need and never what we predict is the suitable methodology of transport or drivetrain. We all the time stated we’re going to attempt to be as versatile as attainable.”
In Australia, the Kamiq is by far Skoda’s hottest automobile, accounting for greater than 1 / 4 of the model’s total gross sales within the first 9 months of 2024.
Regardless of being its most costly and largest mannequin, the Kodiaq is its second-best vendor, forward of the Octavia.
Skoda is belatedly introducing an EV to Australia, with deliveries of the Enyaq – arriving in coupe type solely – set to start in December.
The brand new Elroq is predicted from July 2025.
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