Car News
First official sketches of Skoda Slavia released ahead of its global unveiling on November 18
Skoda India has released a couple of official sketches of its next big launch for the Indian car market, the Slavia sedan. Being brought as a replacement to the Skoda Rapid, the production of which has stopped after a decade long run, the Skoda Slavia will be wearing the brand’s current design language. This makes it much sharper and modern to look at over the Rapid.
Possible design highlights
Going by the sketches, the Skoda Slavia will be designed on the lines of other bigger Skoda sedans, like the Octavia and Superb. Compared to the outgoing Rapid, the Octavia-inspired front grille of the Slavia is wider and sharper but continues to get vertical slats across its width. On either side of the grille, there are new sharper looking headlamps, which gets Superb-like L-shaped daytime running LEDs. The fog lamps on the front bumper to get inverted L-shaped surrounds.
Like all the Skoda products, the side profile of the Slavia is accentuated with crisp creases flowing across the door panels and a trapezoidal badge on the front fender, just adjacent to the edges of the front doors. The door handles and shoulder lines are supposed to come with chrome garnish. The Skoda Slavia will come with a slightly coupe-like roofline.
The rear profile of the Skoda Slavia too comes with a wider looking boot lid, which gets wide Skoda lettering in the middle and wide inverted L-shaped tail lamps. The rear bumper will have a wide chrome garnish spread across its entire breadth and connect the reflectors on either edge.
Possible powertrain options
The Slavia will be the second vehicle from Skoda after the Kushaq SUV which will be based on the brand’s India-specific MQB A0 IN platform. The engine options of the Skoda Slavia too will be shared with the Kushaq. While the volume driver of the range will be the 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which makes 115 bhp of power and 178 Nm of torque, the more premium variants will also get the option of a more sophisticated 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which produces 150 PS of power and 250 Nm of torque. A 6-speed manual gearbox will be the standard gearbox option, and the automatic gearbox options include a 6-speed torque converter for the 1.0-litre TSI and 7-speed DSG for the 1.5-litre TSI engine.
Expected features
The Skoda Slavia is being launched as a more premium replacement to the Rapid sedan. Apart from larger dimensions, the Slavia is expected to be equipped with more premium offerings like LED headlamps and tail lamps, a TFT instrument console, a larger touchscreen infotainment system with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, cruise control, automatic climate control, rear AC vents, sunroof and six airbags.
Launch details
The Skoda Slavia is all set to make its global debut in November 2018, and it will be launched in India as a replacement model to the Rapid. The model will be introduced as a more premium and bigger offering, which might see it receiving a bump in price as well. Once launched, the Skoda Slavia will take on sedans like Honda City and Hyundai Verna.
ALSO READ:
You must be logged in to post a comment Login