28 November 2023
Skoda’s mid-sized SUV is smaller than some, but goes big on practicality features, and still offers both diesel engines and mechanical all-wheel drive.
The Skoda Karoq has become one of the greatest success stories of recent years for the Volkswagen Group’s increasingly favoured, functionality-first Czech car brand. It’s also a salutary lesson in what sells to the company’s notoriously no-nonsense customer base. Back in 2017, the Karoq replaced a car fondly remembered in enthusiast quarters for its quirky looks and cheery character – the Skoda Yeti. And yet, for Skoda, the Yeti never quite converted such warm sentimental feelings into commercial success. The Karoq, by contrast, is now Skoda’s third best-selling model globally, yielding only to the Octavia and Kamiq. In total, the number built at Skoda’s Kvasiny plant now comfortably exceeds half a million.The car went through a major facelift in 2022, when its exterior design was significantly updated, its cabin technologies updated, and its engine range revised. That engine remains a broader one today than many of the Karoq’s competitors in the compact SUV have, retaining both petrol and diesel options. Electrification has yet to make a significant impact on the car, but it does offer clutch-based mechanical all-wheel drive.