The immediate big news for the new SUV is return of an old-school diesel - but one of the make’s new-age petrol-electric alternates is also undergoing trial here.

REINTRODUCTION of a diesel originally dropped for fear it would become an emissions black heart might not keep the new Skoda Kodiaq here from also taking a petrol-electric designed to meet clean air aspiration.

Reinstating the 2.0-litre turbodiesel after almost three years’ absence is expected to rekindle the now wholly seven-seat medium sports utility’s popularity.

“Customers made it very clear that they missed this engine and would like to have it back,” said Skoda New Zealand general manager Alex Brown (pictured).

Siting above a pair of 110k/250Nm 1.5-litre front-drive editions coming in March, the diesel could also yet outsell the other all-wheel-drive Kodiaq so far signed off, the 195kW/400Nm flagship RS, a past volume hero whose new format lands in June-July.

What’s now named the Selection TDi is developed to pick up exactly from the old diesel Sportline left off - right down to having the same $74,990 price but lands with extra benefit of

a larger body, more specification and seven chairs as standard. Power is now 142kW, a 5kW drop, but torque remains at 400Nm.

At same token, while this blast from the past looks good for the immediate future, Skoda NZ’s product planning is also being flavoured by factory preference to take this car with a new-to-type electric involvement.

Yesterday’s media briefing steered clear of discussing the mild and plug-in hybrid editions that have also rolled out in Europe, but afterward Brown revealed they are very much in his mind, to point sample examples of the mild hybrid are here for trial and to gauge dealers interest.

Those cars were not part of yesterday’s media taster drive of the new Kodiaq but seem set to be active here for some months.

Also occurring now is initial pricing and availability discussion with the factory.

This seems to be very much of a direct conversation as head office’s regional manager, Nikola Prochazkova, is here for a first-time look at the national operation.

Both petrol-electric types are selling well in Europe and it’s already apparent the hybrid will be easier to secure this year than the PHEV.

Both cars use the 1.5-litre petrol shared with the incoming fully ICE front-drive Kodiaqs, but with the mild hybrid it matches to 48-volt belt-driven starter-generator and a 48-volt lithium-ion battery and is all-wheel-drive, but without any pure electric running. Maximum power is the same as for the pure petrol 1.5.

The PHEV is designed to offer 100 kilometres’ pure electric range, from a 25.7kWh battery, double the e-range of Skoda’s previous plug-in hybrid options, the now defunct Octavia iV and ongoing - but in old shape (until stock exhausts) - Superb iV station wagons.

The PHEV is rated for 880 kilometres’ combined electric and petrol range, recharging at up to 50kW by DC, and has an output of 149kW.

CO2 outputs are much lower than from anything in the NZ range as it now stands. The pure petrol 110kW engine has 189g/km; the mild hybrid is half that and the PEV optimally claims 11g/km.

Brown is open to taking either, but his personal thought is that non-mains replenished car stands better chance of achieving decent volume, going by last year’s market trend.

In 2024, mild hybrids were the sole powertrain genre to gain market share, whereas PHEVs and full electrics plummeted in popularity.

Says Brown: “I think mild hybrid's probably where consumers are heading … the PHEV doesn't seem to be fitting the narrative in this country at the moment.

“The value has to be perceived by the end user, the consumer. So it has to be competitively priced to match the technology to match what the customer wants.”

Also in his mind are the differing level of functionality. The PHEV is front-wheel drive and five seats only. It has a six-speed DSG automatic transmission, where the others all have seven speeds.

Both hybrids are rated for towing, but while petrol and diesel Kodiaq all-wheel-drives offer up to 2300kg capacity, the PHEV claims the same 1800kg as the other front-driven models. A figure for the mild hybrid is elusive.

There’s no chance of the hybrids replacing the diesel - nor for Kodak to ever go fully electric.

As much as "electrification is absolutely a part of our portfolio going forward”, Brown cannot see Skoda losing its internal combustion engines here for some time.

The call in 2022 to pull the diesel at that time was solid. At that time, divesting high CO2 engines was the easiest route to achieving compliance to the Labour Government’s Clean Car emissions regulations.

While the Skoda engine was still carbon neutral at time of its retirement, if kept it would have by now been hit by a fee under the Clean Car Discount scheme.

That legislation, though, has now gone; and other emissions requirements have been revised by the National-led coalition came in.

Also, though the engine now stands chance of a penalty under different rules that affect at distributor level, these are largely now off-set by Skoda having something else it lacked three years ago - an electric car to earn clean air credits.

From mid-year, it will have two EVs, the existing Enyaq being joined - at time of a big facelift - by a smaller sibling, Elroq.

Even if the diesel does have to take a penalty - ironically, the chances raise slightly because in latest form the CO2 output rises, from 168 grams per kilometre before to 170g now - Brown says it’s become clear with hindsight that it’s too valuable not to have.

“It's a balancing act and we've got to manage that through our portfolio. But there’s still a market for it and we need to fill that void.

“Diesel provides a huge opportunity for the Kiwi lifestyle.”

Certainly, fanbase feedback since the original car left made it obvious there’s ongoing demand.

In dodging a bullet, his make copped flak and losing it factored into why Kodiaq, though remaining the local arm’s top seller all through its period of availability (2017 to late last year) dropped from 38 percent of family volume share in the year of its facelift to 23 percent last year.

“There's no denying that we would have lost out, some of our competitors still had diesel offerings and for the people that want diesel, we weren't there.

“Feedback was overwhelming that customers wanted it. So one should always listen to their customer base.”

A positive from reintroducing now is that Brown feels there are fewer competitors left to be concerned with. The primary one, now, is the Kia Sorento, which runs a 148kW 2.2-litre diesel and is also seats seven.