Skoda SCALA will replace the Rapid and take the fight to the VW Golf

The Skoda Scala is the name for a new Skoda to replace the Rapid – and previewed by the Vision RS – as Skoda moves upmarket to take on the VW Golf.

Last week we had a tease from Skoda of the car which will replace the Rapid in its line-up later this year, and now we know it’s going to be the Skoda Scala.

The Scala – it means ‘stairway’ in Latin – is an appropriate name for a car designed to oust the bland and rather unappealing Rapid and, in the process, give Skoda a model which can take the fight to sister company VW’s Golf.

What seems clear is that the Vision RS Concept we saw at the Paris Motor Show recently is, to a great extent, the car the Scala will be, and although it’s bigger than the Rapid it replaces it will still sit in clear air between the Fabia and Octavia and be a five-door hatch.

Using a stretched version of the VW MQB A0 platform, the new Scala will be joined, probably in 2019, by an SUV take based on the Vision X Concept.

Bernhard Maier, Skoda Chairman, said:

With the new ŠKODA SCALA we are proposing a new chapter in the compact class of ŠKODA. It i a completely new development that sets standards in terms of technology, safety and design in this class. Thus we are confident that SCALA has the best chance to redefine the segment for ŠKODA.

Expect a range of familiar VW Group petrol and diesel engines, and probably a mild hybrid too. And expect the Octavia to look for room further up the food chain before too long as a result of the Scala’s semi-premium ambitions.