Saar: The introductory price of the Laurin & Klement trim is about Rs 1.15 lakh above the Style trim’s regular price.

Skoda’s first and only SUV in India, the Kodiaq, gets a new trim level – Laurin & Klement (L&K). The Czech carmaker has priced it at Rs 35.99 lakh (ex-showroom India). Mind you, the price is introductory in nature. Skoda fanatics will immediately tell you that if a model has the L&K badge, it will come with all the bells and whistles that Skoda has to offer in that segment. So, what is the new trim all about?

Up until now, the Skoda Kodiaq was on sale in India in just one trim – Style. It Over and above the Style trim, the L&K-marked Kodiaq gets a 360-degree surround view camera, a fully digital instrument cluster called Virtual Cockpit, door-edge protection, digital voice enhancement and a power nap package which brings in adjustable headrests of the outer rear seats and two blankets.

In terms of design, the new trim gets a chrome highlights on the grille and the rear diffuser, silver roof rails and ‘Laurin & Klement’ badges on the front fenders. Inside, there’s a piano black trim, L&K logos stitched into the seats and aluminium pedals.

Mechanically, there are no changes to report. Under the hood, there is a 2.0-litre TDI turbo-diesel engine that produces 150PS of power and 340Nm of torque. It comes mated to a 7-speed DSG automatic transmission which routes the power to the road via an all-wheel-drive system. Skoda claims that the setup is enough to return a mileage of 16.25kmpl. That isn’t bad for a seven-seater SUV which weighs nearly 1.8 tonnes and measures almost 4.7 metres in length.

In India, the Skoda Kodiaq falls in the same sort of price range as the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour, Volkswagen Tiguan and the Mitsubishi Outlander. It also faces competition from the entry-level premium SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLA, BMW X1 and the Audi Q3.