Skoda has officially
unveiled the Kodiaq GT crossover in Shanghai, China. Skoda’s first SUV coupe has made
its maiden public appearance at the Czech stand of the China International
Import Expo 2018. Meanwhile, the new model’s auto show debut will take place
later this month in Guangzhou Auto Show, and up until now, Skoda showed
only exterior photos of the 4.63-m long Kodiaq GT.
The
first interior images of the Skoda GT reveal a sporty-flavored cabin dominated
by a pair of sports seats with integrated headrests. The seating area and the
backrest feature perforated leather, while the rest of the seat gets normal
leather.
Another interior highlight is the flat-bottomed
steering wheel wrapped in the same material. It looks similar to the Kodiaq
RS‘s wheel but it lacks the red stitching and vRS logo. Interestingly, it
doesn’t get paddle shifters either, even though it’s clear that the photos show
a DSG-equipped model. Maybe the paddles are an optional feature in China.
The dashboard is obviously the same one from the
regular Kodiaq SUV, with the GT model getting the Virtual Cockpit gauge cluster
and a big central touchscreen display. The infotainment system’s connectivity
features include Wi-Fi access, MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay, and Baidu’s Carlife.
The Kodiaq GT offers two 2.0-liter
TSI engines in China with 186 PS and 220 PS.
The entry-level unit comes with front-wheel drive while the more powerful one
brings all-wheel drive and a seven-speed DSG transmission as standard.
The Kodiaq GT is part of a China-focused SUV
campaign that began with the introduction of the Kodiaq in 2017. The smaller
Kamiq and Karoq models followed in the first half of 2018. With the Kodiaq GT’s launch as
the range’s flagship, the Asian country will be the first market in the world
where Skoda will have four different SUVs on sale.
