New Skoda SUV will be lapped up by Company Directors, say Skoda

The new Skoda SUV – revealed as the Vision S Concept – will be a big hit with company directors, according to Skoda’s research.

The Skoda Vision S Concept was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show a few weeks ago, and previews a new large SUV from the Czech car maker – likely to be the Skoda Kodiak/Kodiaq – and will, according to Skoda, be a big hit with company directors.

Skoda used Real World Insight at MediaCom to conduct qualitative and quantitative research on ‘user choosers’ at both board level and below director level, and have concluded (on a sample of 289) that the Skoda SUV will be a big hit with the boardroom.

The research concluded that 39 per cent of board-level bosses would choose an SUV as their company car, with less than half that – just 19 per cent – at a more junior level, concluding the directors will be jumping in to the new SUV in droves.

We’re not entirely sure that is the case – the directors will doubtless want to compare Skoda’s offering to the alternatives first – but it does make clear Skoda’s ambitions for their big SUV, and the likelihood it will be distinctly ‘Premium’ when it arrives as a production model later in 2016.

Henry Williams, Skoda’s Head of Fleet, said:

The new A+ SUV – which will take cues from the VisionS concept car – sees ŠKODA enter an entirely different vehicle category. We can’t say much more about its pricing or specification, but I can promise that it will give fleet decision makers and company car drivers a great product with 1st class whole life costs.

If Skoda do deliver a ‘premium’ feeling SUV with the Kodiak – and the pricing is keen against the competition – they could be right, but the Skoda SUV will be going up against competition like the Land Rover Discovery Sport in the ‘Premium’ sector, and the Hyundai Santa Fe in the more mainstream offerings. Not easy targets.

But perhaps it can carve a niche between the two?