Skoda's New 7 Seat SUV revealed

The Skoda Kodiaq Scout, an off-road-styled version of Skoda's new seven-seat SUV, has been revealed before its public debut at the Geneva motor show.

Skoda Kodiaq Scout

As with the Octavia Scout, the Kodiaq Scout gets a lot of underbody protection. as well as making the car less vulnerable to damage when off-roading, this is additionally the most notable visual difference to the regular Kodiaq, with it projecting from beneath the front and rear bumpers. It's silver in colour and visually divided into three sections.

The Scout also gets model-specific styling accents including silver trim round the front grille, side windows and wing mirror housings, and silver roof rails.

Other additions include model-specific 19in alloys, a tinted rear window and side windows, and Scout badges on the car’s front wing.

Kodiaq Interior

Four-wheel drive and a DSG automatic gearbox are standard, as is off-road Assist, which adjusts the throttle response, dampers and diff lock for better traction. Hill-Hold and Hill-Descent controls are also standard.

Buyers get the choice of all but the least powerful version of the 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine, the 125PS.

The four available engines are therefore two petrols, the 1.4 TSI 150PS (148bhp) and the two.0 TSI 180PS (178bhp), and two diesels, the 2.0 TDI 150PS (148bhp) and a pair of.0 TDI 190PS (187bhp).

Specification is based on the regular Kodiaq’s SE trim, and includes cruise control, Driving Mode select (Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport, Individual, Snow), air conditioning, a multifunction wheel, led ambient lighting in ten colours, a Swing infotainment touchscreen, a DAB radio, an eight-speaker stereo and Alcantara seats.

Skoda & seat SUV

Safety systems are similar as on the regular Kodiaq, with front and rear Park Assist cameras, Crew protect Assist, blind spot detection, rear traffic alert, and automatic emergency breaking (AEB) with pedestrian detection coming as standard.

The Kodiaq Scout features a fractionally accumulated ground clearance of 194mm. Off-road, it has a ramp angle of 19.7deg, and approach and departure angles of 22.0 and 23.1deg, severally.

Prices are expected to be slightly more than that of the regular Kodiaq; the equivalent seven-seat SE-trim model with the 1.4 TSI 150PS engine costs £26,245.