Following a painstakingly long teaser campaign, Skoda will finally take the wraps off the second-generation Kodiaq on Wednesday, October 4. Meanwhile, a final unofficial rendering attempts to paint an accurate picture of what’s to come for the mid-size SUV by taking after the sketches released by the Czech automaker. Consequently, this digital design exercise should be quite representative of the real thing we’ll see in a couple of days.
With the Vision 7S concept introduced a little over a year ago, Skoda previewed a fresh design language. However, the 2024 Kodiaq will not embrace the fresh look as the Mladá Boleslav brand has opted instead for an evolutionary design. The double lights and squared-off wheel arches are still there, and so is the familiar front grille design. It soldiers on with traditional door handles and has an instantly familiar body shape as the VW Group-owned marque hasn’t really taken any design risks.
Skoda is giving the new Kodiaq its second-gen matrix LED adaptive headlights, a rear light bar, and a dark chrome finish for the D-pillars. It’s also switching to the latest font used for the brand’s name on the center of the tailgate. Sadly, although I know this is a personal preference, it’s not reverting to the old and familiar logo depicting a winged arrow it had used until several years ago. Wheel size will start at 17 inches for the base model and go up to 20 inches on the more expensive trims.
Although the exterior will be more of the same, it’s the cabin that will be going through a revolution since it’ll have an all-new dashboard. The next-gen Kodiaq is getting a massive 13-inch touchscreen and three 1.25-inch displays mounted within a rotary knob on the center console. These tiny screens have multiple functions to reduce clutter while providing quicker access compared to having to navigate through the big screen. The driver will also have a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.
Not that the Kodiaq needed to get even bigger, but Skoda is stretching the SUV by 61 mm (2.4 in) to offer even greater cargo capacity for both five- and seven-seat versions. In addition, the roofline has been slightly altered to provide extra headroom for passengers sitting in the back. That tells us this second generation is going to be supremely spacious regardless of whether you’re going to carry people or stuff.
It’s going to be one of the last new VW Group products to come with combustion engines, including a 1.5 TSI that will be at the core of a plug-in hybrid version the first-generation Kodiaq didn’t have. Regardless of what’s under the hood (1.5 TSI, 2.0 TSI, or 2.0 TDI), all variations of the big SUV will have a dual-clutch automatic transmission, and some are going to come with all-wheel drive.
