Saar: Dubbed as the Scout and the Sportline, both will make their world premieres at the 2018 Paris Motor Show.
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto has unveiled two new variants of the Karoq SUV – the Scout and the Sportline. Both will make their world premieres at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, which will open its gates on October 4, 2018. That’s over a year later after the Skoda Karoq made its first-ever public appearance in September last year. So, what are there two new variants all about? Let’s unravel them one by one.
Skoda Karoq Scout
The company has always reserved the tag ‘Scout’ for variants which have been designed to carry a go-anywhere attitude. The Karoq Scout is no exception. It will be the only variant in the line-up to feature an all-wheel-drive system as standard. To make it stand out, Skoda has given the Karoq Scout several chrome and silver-coloured bodywork elements, cladding within the wheel arches and all around the lower half of the SUV, 18-inch ‘Braga’ alloy wheels (19-inch ‘Crater’ alloys also available as an option), tinted windows and Scout logos on the front fenders.
Inside the cabin, the seats have been upholstered in covers with black-brown contrasting seams. They are even embroidered with Scout lettering to make things lively. The multifunction leather steering wheel, pedals with stainless steel elements, an LED package that includes ambient lighting and a special off-roading setting in the Virtual Cockpit (digital instrument cluster) are all part of the Karoq Scout’s feature list.
Skoda will offer the Karoq Scout with a 1.5-litre TSI engine and a 2.0-litre TDI mill. While the former produces 150PS/250Nm and will come mated to only a 7-speed DSG gearbox, the latter will be available in two states of tune – 150PS/340Nm and 190PS/400Nm. The lesser of the two diesels will come as standard with a 6-speed manual transmission, while the 7-speed DSG will also be available as an option. The most powerful of the lot will only come with the 7-speed DSG.
Skoda Karoq Sportline
The name itself gives a big hint on what this variant of the Karoq will be about. To make it look the sportiest amongst all other variants, Skoda has given the Karoq Sportline aggressive-looking front and rear bumpers, black 18-inch ‘Mytikas’ alloy wheels (19-inch ‘Vega’ alloys also available as an option), Sportline logos on the front fenders, tinted windows and black roof rails.
On the inside, the Skoda Karoq Sportline gets black sports seats, which are draped in three-ply air-permeable Thermoflux fabric, with contrasting silver stitching, lumbar support for the front seats and a multifunction perforated black leather steering wheel. Other sporty design cues include a black headliner, pedals with stainless steel elements, black roof pillars and the same LED package as the Karoq Scout. Unfortunately, the Skoda Karoq Sportline doesn’t come with the Virtual Cockpit as standard. It is only available as an optional extra.
The Karoq Sportline will be offered with the same range of engines as the Scout. In addition to those, it will exclusively be available with a 2.0-litre TSI motor that produces 190PS. As far as four-wheel-drive is concerned, the Karoq Sportline will have it as standard with just the 2.0-litre TDI 190PS mill as standard. The lesser tune of the same engine and the 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine will come with front-wheel-drive and a 6-speed manual transmission. The 7-speed DSG and four-wheel-drive system, however, will be available as optional extras.
As of now, the Karoq is not available in India. In Skoda’s SUV portfolio, it sits below the Kodiaq, which is available on our shores. Undercutting both of them is a China-exclusive Kamiq SUV which was unveiled earlier this year. By 2020, however, Skoda will launch a compact SUV in India as its first product under the ‘India 2.0’ project. That will share its underpinnings with the Volkswagen T-Cross, which was recently spied with minimal camouflage, and will compete with the likes of the Hyundai Creta and Renault Duster in India.
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