Fit for a king yet designed to sell in a high-value sector the national distributor is keen to join.

THE clue is in the name: Kushaq is cleverly derived from a word for king, ‘kushak.’

Skoda replaced the ‘K’ with a ‘Q’ since the Czech brand is lining up car names that end with a ‘Q’ – Kodiaq, Karoq, Kamiq.

They’re all names from Indian language. Kodiaq and Karoq are from the Aleutian language, spoken by the native inhabitants of an Alaskan island, Kodiak.

Karoq is a combo of the Aleutian words for a car and an arrow, which are the elements of the Skoda logo. Clever, right? Kamiq comes from the language of the Inuit people living in northern Canada and Greenland. It describes something that fits as perfectly as a second skin in every situation.

Now to Kushaq. Indian language, yes, but not Native American. Think ‘continental’. It’s from Sanskrit, an ancient language of India, and chosen for relevance.

India is quite literally home of the Skoda Kushaq. The world’s fifth biggest car market is the country for which this car was purpose-engineered, designed and outfitted. The only country that produces it.

Which doesn’t mean it needs be only sold there. Skoda India is a big operation – it produced 26,000 cars last year, out of two factories, and 37,000 engines – and has decided Kushaq should be its first export model.

The crossover is one of five cars the operation builds (the others being the Kiwi-familiar current Octavia, Kodiaq, Superb, the Rapid and Slavia, a sedan version of the Fabia that’s also India-specific).

All going to plan, assuming certain challenges – shipping being one – the Kushaq might become familiar with Kiwis some time in the second half of 2023.

Skoda New Zealand boss Rodney Gillard explains why. Crossovers and sports utilities are hugely popular; price advantage an obvious draw.

Skoda has a good name as a smart European buy, but with the least expensive car being the $38,490 Scala hatchback, and the least expensive crossover the $39,990 Kamiq, there’s room for something even cheaper. A value proposition car whose name suggests it is fit for a king, placing in the low to mid $30,000 zone? It conceivably opens the door to a whole new customer base.

He emphasises one point: Don’t misread inexpensive as cheap. Sure, Kushaq - which entered production a year ago this month - was created for a country where keen cost counts for so much. Yet it’s a modern model and Gillard’s visit to the factory in Pune in May, which afforded opportunity to drive the five-seater, left him very enthused.

The experience reinforced every key element of design, build and driving feel is right on par with Europe, sourcing point for all other Skodas sold here.

“Once you go into the place, you could be at a plant anywhere in Europe,” he said. “Everything is to the same standard.”

Further, Kushaq is on good bones. It uses a revised version of the latest Volkswagen Group small car underpinning employed on the Kamiq and the just-landed Fabia hatchback and by another trendy VW, the T-Roc.

The version in Gillard’s sights has a 1.0-litre engine making 85kW, a traditional automatic rather than a direct shift gearbox – so six speed, rather than the seven-speed going into other Skoda models of this size - and fewer features.

“It will be an entry-level SUV, the entry level product for our brand,” he said.

“Small SUVs are becoming increasingly important, globally and in this market. The Kamiq is very sporty, it’s almost both a crossover and a hatch, whereas Kushaq is more a true SUV.”

While Pune is not expected to be a sourcing point for the most modern Skodas, such as the Enyaq full electric also coming next year, it has plenty of production capacity, is keen to export and is not being hit by the semiconductor shortage that is impinging on other Skodas.

Nor has it been hurt by the war in Ukraine, a supply point for wiring harnesses for VW Group brands.

“They seem to have no shortage of semiconductors and they basically make virtually everything for the car in India,” Gillard said. “I have to say I was highly impressed.”

Skoda designed Kushaq as a rival to a growing array of compact SUVs designed specifically for India, including a Nissan and a Renault.

Like many small Skodas, it provisions in various trim levels, including a high-end, sports-themed Monte Carlo specification with the same 110kW 1.5-litre engine and seven-speed dual clutch direct shift transmission availed in the like-badged new Fabia.

Gillard says his preference will be to ignore that treatment and simply offer Kushaq in a more cost-effective form, with an engine that has sold here previously behind the VW and Skoda badges.

At 4221mm long, 1760mm wide and 1612mm high, the Kushaq is 20mm shorter in overall length, 33mm narrower and 59mm taller than the Kamiq, but both have a 2651mm wheelbase.

The latter is down to the Indian-market model's MQB-A0-IN platform – a more cost-effective, India-specific variant of the MQB A0 architecture underpinning used by Fabia, Kamiq and other VW Group models.

Electronic stability control is standard across the Kushaq range – a first for the segment in India – while other standard or optional assistance features include multi-collision braking, hill-hold assist, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring.

Up to six airbags are available, though front side and side curtain airbags appear restricted to the options list.

The absence of adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking are out of step with European Skodas, yet if their absence means it won’t secure the five star crash test rating meted all other Skodas sold here, neither will it necessarily score poorly, either. It’s just the new rules; simply, any car without AEB alone is excluded from the Euro (NCAP) and Australasian (ANCAP) New Car Assessment Programme five star sector.

In respect to crash testing? It has yet to happen anywhere. Past history suggests the chances of it achieving a score from ANCAP would rest on it also selling in Australia (yes, even though that agency is well-funded by Kiwi tax money). The prospect of that has not been mentioned.

The car’s design derives from a 2020 concept, Vision IN, and delivers straighter-sided, more upright proportions than Skoda’s other soft-roaders. It otherwise carries all the brand’s current design trademarks.

The model has recently upgraded to a 10-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but, like Fabia, the speedometer and tachometer are analogue rather than rendered as a digital display.

Some other international brands have found India hard going. Ford, for instance, last year decided to sell off its operation there; a big effort comprising several factories – now being divvied to domestic brands - that once supplied the EcoSport small crossover to NZ.

However, Skoda seems to be right at home. It intends to be the dominant European car manufacturer in India by 2030 and appears to have staked big investment in plant and product.

The Kushaq and Slavia, which designates as a medium sedan, are delivered under a plan called ‘India 2.0’. The idea of cars made exclusively in and, until the export idea was floated, ‘for’ India resonates well with the domestic scene. Both cars are a gift for domestic industries spanning many talents as have high localisation in respect to their component sourcing; 95 percent of the Slavia’s parts are produced in India.