Tucked into the press release on the global 2022 sales results is news from Skoda about plans to launch the next-generation Superb and Kodiaq later this year. We also know that the Kamiq subcompact crossover and Scala compact hatchback will undergo a facelift in 2023. The Mladá Boleslav brand part of the Volkswagen Group has “other projects” planned for this year, along with three pure electric models coming in 2026. .
Already confirmed in liftback and wagon body styles, the fourth-generation Superb (fifth if you count the original models from the 1930s and 1940s) will use an evolution of the MQB platform. News of the Czech flagship coming in 2023 likely means the mechanically related VW Passat will also move on to its next iteration in the next 12 months. Both will be made at the factory in Bratislava (Slovakia) but the car with the VW logo is believed to be available exclusively in wagon format.
A new Kodiaq likely implies the next Tiguan is also right around the corner considering the current generation of VW SUVs hit the market about a year before the Skoda equivalent. While the Tiguan has been spied repeatedly hiding a bigger, rounder build, the Kodiaq is more coy. Expect late development of the VW Group’s petrol and diesel engines to power these four models.
Since we mentioned Skoda’s sales results up front, 2022 hasn’t been a good year. Demand fell 16.7 percent to 878,200 vehicles. Once again, Octavia became the best-selling product even though shipments fell 29.7 percent to 141,100 units. Followed by Kamiq (96,300, -20.3 percent) and Kodiaq (94,500, -4.2 percent).
The only model with positive year-over-year results was the Enyaq as shipments of electric SUVs grew by 20 percent to 53,700 units. Unsurprisingly, sales of the Rapid have plunged 72.8 percent to 17,300 cars since parent company VW Group decided at the start of the year to halt production at its Kaluga plant following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Except for India where sales grew by 127.7 per cent, demand fell in all other regions. Skoda plans to enter the Vietnam market by working with Thanh Cong Motor Vietnam (TC Motor) to sell several European models from the first half of this year.
