A brand new electrical automotive property mannequin from Skoda was initially scheduled for unveiling throughout the subsequent two years, nonetheless this has been delayed till late 2027 or 2028, Autocar has reported.
The electrical property mannequin was to be a part of six EVs set for unveiling in that two 12 months interval, together with the Elroq C-segment electrical SUV that made its debut this week, the Epiq, a productionised Imaginative and prescient 7S idea, and the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé crossover facelifts.
This property mannequin that’s within the pipeline is claimed to hold over the Octavia nameplate, which is at current in its fourth era for the mannequin that’s comprised of each notchback and property bodsystyles.
“With the slowdown of the transformation into battery-electric autos, we’re revisiting that [timeline]. We’re checking the sequence of these vehicles. The cadence now [is] the Enyaq Coupé, the Elroq, the following one is the Epiq, and the following one down the road would be the SUV, [and] the 7S [concept]. After that – it could possibly be 2027, 2028 – we’re aiming for an Octavia property,” Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer advised Autocar.
Inside combustion engine-powered fashions such because the Fabia, Kamiq and Scala had been initially earmarked for discontinuation by 2027, nonetheless these fashions have been retained till the tip of the last decade as electrical car gross sales are seeing a downturn, Zellmer mentioned.
Final month, the European Vehicle Producers’ Affiliation (ACEA) has known as for a revision of the European Union’s emissions targets for combustion engine-powered vehicles as gross sales of BEVs within the area continued to drop as of September.
New automotive registrations within the European Union dropped by 18.3% in August 2024 and registrations of battery-electric autos (BEVs) dropped by 43.9% to 92,627 items, down from 165,204 items in the identical interval final 12 months in accordance with the ACEA. In the meantime, market share held by BEVs within the area dropped 21% in comparison with the identical month within the earlier 12 months, in accordance with the affiliation.
Skoda is sacrificing revenue on the brand new Elroq EV SUV to make sure it’s priced competitively, Skoda advertising head Martin Jahn advised Autocar, to ensure that it to draw robust gross sales and thus assist Skoda meet its CO2 emissions targets for 2025.
“I admit that this isn’t essentially the most worthwhile automotive in our line-up, and we simply need to work on the prices, particularly on the battery prices, to make the electrical vehicles extra worthwhile sooner or later,” Jahn mentioned.
The dearth of selection in EV bodystyles can be a barrier to rising EV gross sales, Zellmer added. “Individuals all the time purchase vehicles for the least possible trigger they want them for. So that they purchase a combi [estate] as a result of they had been at one cut-off date… they needed to put this large field of a wardrobe within the automotive, so now they want a combi once more,” he mentioned.
Zellmer additionally mentioned the vary nervousness is ‘completely emotional’ slightly than rational. “It’s altering the habits, however individuals nonetheless discover it troublesome to alter their behaviour in direction of battery-electric autos so we have to give individuals time to be prepared for that, and for this reason we provide options,” Skoda’s CEO mentioned.
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