Skoda finally
presented their new Kamiq crossover at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show. Described as
a “new mainstream city SUV”, its positioned under the Karoq and Kodiaq SUV,
making it the brand’s third high-riding vehicle available in China. This is
where it will remain, as there are no current plans to offer it in Western
markets.
Despite being positioned under the Karoq, the Skoda
Kamiq is actually 8 mm longer. Still, the rest of the dimensions fall
behind the Karoq, as the Kamiq is 61 mm narrower and 10 mm lower, with a 2,610 mm wheelbase.
Tailored specifically for China, the company’s
entry-level SUV benefits from an 8-inch infotainment screen with Baidu CarLife,
Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink. It also provides real-time traffic and weather
information, and uses a speech recognition software from iFLYTEK, based on
artificial intelligence, which understands regional Chinese dialects. This
feature “automatically learns an individual or local language style”, according
to the carmaker.
The Skoda Kamiq uses a newly developed 1.5-liter
gasoline engine that makes 111 PS and 150 Nm of torque
and works together with an automatic transmission. Skoda will likely launch the
Kamiq in the People’s Republic later this year, so stay tuned for more images
and details.
