Kamiq promises quite a kick
THE car company renowned for its sheer affordability has become one of the last to join the big-value small SUV sector of the market, which is the fastest-growing in the UK.
Just think how long ago Nissan introduced its Juke to the market and now, almost a decade after the first model rolled off the Sunderland production line, Skoda is revealing its forthcoming Kamiq rival.
It will be an interesting battle, with the novelty value of the newcomer expected to command top dollar of about £17,000, whereas Jukes are currently being discounted by a whopping £5,000 down to a cash price of just £12,500.
That is for a 1.6-litre petrol version, with the rival Skoda starting as a lowly 1.0-litre three-cylinder offering.
Nissan’s distressed marketing of the Juke is an indication of just how swamped this sector of the market is, with similar savings on the Vauxhall Mokka, Citroen C4, Renault Captur and a host of others. The advantage of the Skoda Kamiq is its newness, which is often the greatest single attraction to potential punters, even though rivals such as the Juke have been perfected and improved during their lifetime.
Skoda is not renowned for breaking the mould when it comes to design, and the Kamiq is pretty conservative in all but name, which owes its origins to the Inuit language of Greenland.
The sculpted boxy shape endows the vehicle with a spacious interior within its modest muscular exterior dimensions, extending to 2.24 metres from front to rear.
Remarkably, this creates as much rear legroom as is found in a Skoda Octavia and there is a boot capacity of 400 litres with the seats up, expanding to an impressive 1,395 litres with them down.
There is also the option of a foldflat front passenger seat, which enables objects as long as virtually two and a half metres to be carried inside the vehicle.
Another feature of impressive size is the 9.2in screen display on some versions, which links to the USB, wireless smartphone charging and sophisticated sound system.
Some models even boast advanced features such as an electric tailgate.
Engine options are a 1.6-litre diesel generating 113bhp and 250Nm of pulling power, plus petrol options of one litre with a choice of 94bhp and 113bhp or a 1.5-litre petrol turbo.
Initially there will be no sporty vRS version but as Nissan has shown, there is strong demand for higher-performance models within the sector, so I’d say time will tell on that.
Skoda says that it will confirm prices in a couple of months, ahead of the vehicle’s summer debut, but if its sister model, the Seat Arona, is a guide, then it should enter the market with a sticker price in the region of £17,000.