Skoda could axe Yeti badge
Shock admission from top exec as firm readies new SUV
SKODA bosses have confirmed for the first time that they could be prepared to drop the massively popular and successful Yeti badge for the next-generation crossover.
Speaking to Auto Express about how the Skoda Kodiaq could influence the styling of future SUVS, Skoda exterior design chief Karl Neuhold said the seven-seat model would lend its design language to “the new Yeti successor – the name is not sorted yet”.
Asked specifically whether the next Yeti – previewed in our exclusive images – would retain the badge, Neuhold added: “At this time no, it is not decided yet. That is still in planning, in discussion, to the very end.”
Rumours have been rife online that the Yeti badge may be dropped, with Skoda recently registering the Karoq name. But if the company is still deliberating giving it the axe, it’s leaving it late as it’s understood the car will make its public debut next month.
When quizzed further, Neuhold’s PR handler stepped in but only added to the confusion by saying: “We cannot confirm the name because it may change, but right now there is no exact plan to change it.”
Neuhold was more forthcoming about what to expect from the car, which will be broadly the same size as the SEAT Ateca with which it shares a platform. “The next Yeti really is an entirely new car,” he said. “I think it makes a big step – coming from the Kodiaq but making its own identity as well.
“Starting from the [VW Group’s] MQB platform, everything is really new, and there is the reason as well [why it might change its name]. It is coming from the Kodiaq but has its own identity.
“The old Yeti was a very characterful car, polarising. The design was very different. For me the new car will have a character of its own. This car will definitely have the same language [as the Kodiaq], but with its own character.” Dropping the Yeti name would be a shock to fans in the UK, where the model – a former winner of our annual Driver Power satisfaction survey – continues to sell strongly, despite its imminent replacement.
We expect the new Yeti to undercut the Ateca slightly, priced from around £17,500.
“If Skoda is deliberating axing the Yeti name, it’s leaving it late as it’s thought the car will make its debut next month”
SKODA’S Vision E concept has finally been revealed (below), but it’ll be beaten to production by another all-electric vehicle from the brand – and the current favourite is the humble Citigo.
Boss Bernhard Maier has pledged the company will have five all-electric cars on sale by 2025, and that EV sales will make up 25 per cent of Skoda’s volume.
It was widely assumed that the Vision E– a striking coupé crossover based on sister company VW’S MEB electric architecture – would lead the charge. But Christian Strube, member of the board for technical development, told Auto Express in Shanghai: “We have said Vision E is our first car on MEB. But we haven’t said it is our first production car.”
The Citigo is the most obvious candidate, and as it’s based on the electric VW e-up! the conversion is straightforward. We can expect the electric Citigo to arrive towards the end of 2019 or in early 2020.