Skoda Kodiaq review

One of the most rounded cars on sale has entered its second generation. It’s fair to say we adored the old Kodiaq, lavishing it with praise and awards. Skoda’s coming-of-age tale probably reached its exciting climax in 2016 when the first-gen car launched, in fact.

Here was a seven-seat SUV that could send shivers down a Land Rover Discovery’s spine at a fraction of the cost, bringing quality trim, sharp dynamics and a nicely chiselled style to a surprisingly niche sector. Sure, five-seat SUVs have long since swarmed our streets. But properly practical seven-seaters are much rarer. This was among the very best.

You wouldn’t blame Skoda for deploying a modest facelift and declaring this a new car, afraid to mess up a good thing. On appearances alone, you might deduce as much: for all the talk of a new ‘Modern Solid’ design language, its bold front lighting strip and a new iteration of the Skoda badge, this keeps the general Kodiaq aesthetic and moves it on a furlong.

While those big wraparound rear lights, silver rear pillars and a lick of fresh Bronx Gold (aka glamorous brown) paint all add a bit of tinsel, anyone who’s traded in the old one ought to feel reasonably at home as they glance out the bedroom window seizing their last moment of peace before school run bedlam commences.

So what is new?

It’s actually a decent overhaul and naturally battery power has reared its head, a first in the Kodiaq. Sharing much beneath the skin with the latest Volkswagen Tiguan (albeit with more distance than the latest-gen Superb and Passat) you’ve a choice of pure petrol and diesels – yes, diesels! – while a plug-in hybrid is primed and ready to hoover up all the company car sales with its low CO2 emissions. Fully electric propulsion continues to be dealt with by the bespoke Enyaq crossover.

The pure petrol is a 148bhp 1.5-litre with mild-hybrid tech (for a little extra efficiency without any additional complication for the driver), while the 2.0-litre diesels are split between a 148bhp tune with front-wheel drive and a 190bhp option with AWD. Skoda claims fuel economy of 47.4mpg with petrol power and 53.2mpg if you’ve gone diesel (those numbers are for five-seaters, the heavier seven-seater is a bit less frugal).

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) takes the 1.5-litre petrol engine and combines it with an e-motor and 25.7kWh battery for 201bhp and - brace yourself - 75 miles of all-electric range. We’ve yet to test out that claim, but on paper it’s one of the longest-range PHEVs you can buy. It’ll even top up on rapid 50kW DC chargers in under half an hour, as well as from a slower, cheaper AC wallbox at home (up to 11kW).

All powertrains have four cylinders and come with a DSG automatic twin-clutch transmission. More potent 261bhp 2.0-litre petrol and 268bhp PHEV options present in the Tiguan range aren’t yet offered here; Skoda has already confirmed the return of the Kodiaq vRS performance SUV at the end of 2024, so expect at least one (if not both) of those powertrains to sit in the front of that.

No more manuals?

Nope: apparently only three per cent of buyers settled for a stick-shift in the outgoing car. And that’s been used as an opportunity for a spring clean inside. Further proving its leap over the first Skodiaq is a newly airy centre console. Gone is a traditional gear lever or selector, with your flick between park, drive and reverse now done via the right-hand column stalk. The indicators and wipers are combined on the left.

It frees up more space for clever cubbyholes – a Skoda party piece – and phone storage, including a pair of smart ventilated wireless charging pads to stop your precious device cooking. The central display screen measures 13in and is complemented by 10in digital instruments. Most exciting of all, though, is a row of three ‘smart dials’ that can cycle between volume, driving modes or – hurrah! – the climate control. The interior looks as digitalised as any other fresh VW Group product, but Skoda’s not forgotten some good ol’ pragmatism. Phew.

It sounds posher. Does it cost it?

Prices are up several grand on its predecessor, starting at £36,645 for a five-seat SE with the entry-level 1.5 petrol. Diesel adds another couple of grand while seven-seater status is an £860 upgrade. Posher SE L trim tips the starting price past the £40k marker and is currently the only way to get a Kodiaq 4x4. The PHEV is £42k, but its battery positioning rules out the option of a seven-seat hybrid, sadly.

All told, it’s priced very closely to its Tiguan cousin but appears to offer simpler spec levels and more standard kit as well as sharper, more thoughtful design. Skoda has shifted over 800,000 Kodiaqs in the first-gen car’s eight-year lifespan. Expect the millionth car to come around in very short order.

And if I want seven seats, but not the Skoda badge?

Think along the lines of the Hyundai Santa Fe, Peugeot 5008, Seat Tarraco, Nissan X-Trail, Kia Sorento and Mercedes GLB. Heck, there’s even the Dacia Jogger if you’re on a really tight budget. Land Rover of course has the Disco and Disco Sport.

The Kodiaq was arguably Skoda’s best ever car and a huge seller. No pressure in replacing it, then.

It feels like they’ve nailed the brief. In all key areas – practicality, interior sensibility and driving comfort – it feels just like the car before it, just with marginal improvements. A bit more space, new but well-integrated tech and a plug-in powertrain that’ll drag Skoda into the electrification game.

Skoda seems to have avoided the trap some rivals fall into by allowing the natural physics of taller SUVs to play out, bringing less tension to the driving experience. Yet it still handles smartly and offers that appealingly high viewpoint without feeling any bulkier than many estate cars. It trumps most of them for space, too, with a colossal boot in most seating arrangements and the luggage capacity of a regular hatchback with all seven seats in place. It’s pricier than before and doesn’t look as chiselled… otherwise it’s pretty hard to criticise.