Car review: The Kushaq looks to become lord of small SUVs in India

Ever since Skoda entered India sometime around 2001, it has built a reputation for itself with strong, high-quality cars that have stood out for their distinctly European design and competent, refined diesel engines.

One of its smaller launches, the Fabia hatchback lived up to all those qualities and found strong interest in the metros. However, after it was withdrawn from the country, Skoda has more or less sustained itself on sales derived largely from the Laura and Octavia, and to some extent the Superb.

With the Kushaq, which means “emperor” in Sanskrit, the company is making a bold return to stake a claim to the compact SUV category. Expect this car to go head to head with the likes of the Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV700, MG Hector, Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos.

For a compact petrol car, the Kushaq isn’t the most affordable one on the block. At a price-topping Rs 17.7 lakh, plus another couple of lakhs thrown in for taxes and extras, this baby SUV will cost nearly Rs 20 lakh on the road. That makes it a pretty steep acquisition by any standards. Of course, this is Skoda, which has always stood for quality, and with its premium positioning, one does not expect it to compete with mass manufacturers. Even so, it’s a high price. Yes, the low-end variants are cheaper but then don’t expect all the bells and whistles in those.

Skoda Kushaq Style 1.5L TSI DSG

(Top model)

Power: 150 PS

Torque: 250 Nm

Transmission: 7 Speed DSG

Top speed: N/A

No of cylinders: 4; equipped with Active Cylinder Technology

Displacement: 1,498 cc

Kerb weight: 1305 kg

Price: 17.59 lakh (ex-showroom) for the Style variant

The car’s build quality has German-make written all over it. Slam the door shut and you hear a solid “thunk” — no aftershock, no vibration, no rattle. That this car is of Europ­ean DNA becomes even more clear when you slip into it. It features strong, firm seats, high-quality plast­ics and dashboard. The top var­i­ant has a fully auto­matic drivetrain that ope­r­ates smoothly, without any turbo lag. There’s a sunroof, too. The backseat is comfortable, well designed and clearly a result of what is smart space management for a small SUV. Des­pite being a compact city SUV, not for a second does it feel tiny, cram­ped or claustrophobic.

How has the early reception to the car been? Skoda Auto India recently annou­nced a 282 per cent increase in its August 2021 sales, compared to the same period last year. Skoda sold 3,829 cars in August 2021, compared to 1,003 in August 2020, with the Kushaq joining the ranks of Superb, Octavia and the Rapid in growing sales volumes.

Out on the highway, the 1.5-litre engine moves effortlessly and has sufficient get-up and go. For those who want to get into sportier driving, the high-end variants come with paddle-shifters for quicker shifting of gears. At high revs and past a certain speed, the engine does get a little noisy and that may not bother most, but for a petrol-sipping German car, one may expect smoother acoustics.

Skoda has said that its cost of service and ownership has been rebooted down to optimum levels in line with the cost of its cars and customer expectations. And if that has been truly fixed, then the Kushaq may have a shot at being a top choice in the small but premium SUV range, with competition, if any, coming from its own stablemate — the Volkswagen Taigun, which shares its gears and engine. And if priced aggressively, it could prove to be a formidable competitor.