Rear end teaser sketch will eventually differ from the Volkswagen model South Africa will get in 2026. Image: Skoda India
After an initial showing in February, Volkswagen-owned Skoda has released a second teaser image of its new small SUV arriving in March next year.
Set to be positioned below the Kushaq, a rebadged version of the Volkswagen Taigun itself spun-off of the T-Cross, the still unnamed newcomer will incorporate Skoda’s Modern Solid styling language and ride on the Indian optimised MQB A0-IN platform used by the Virtus sold in South Africa as the Polo Sedan.
Despite the Skoda styling language, the newcomer, which will conform to India’s sub-four metre regulations, has broader significance as it will go on-sale in 2026 as the long overdue mystery SUV Wolfsburg will assemble at its Kariega Plant in the Eastern Cape.
An apparent joint development with India and Brazil, the latter will reportedly also receive its version in 2026, but based on the MQB A0 Entry platform the South Africa bound model is tipped to utilise
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Forming part of a R4-billion investment into the facility for production alongside the Polo and Polo Vivo, the SUV will take-up station below the T-Cross, whose production run in Europe still appears set to end in 2025 in preparation for the all-electric ID.2all SUV the following year.
While this remains contrived following the European Union’s relaxing of the Euro 7 emissions regulations in May, which has allowed Volkswagen to prolong the lifecycle and exports from Kariega of the Polo till 2027, what is known is that the SUV will make sole use of an internal combustion engine poised to be the same 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI units used in the T-Cross.
In addition, the platform could still spawn a fourth model for local production at the factory located in the town formerly known as Uitenhage, after the long awaited approval last month of the Tarok bakkie that will finally replace the dated Saveiro.
While green lit for now only in Brazil, the Tarok’s use of the MQB A0 structure and confirmation at its original showing in 2018 as a world model, have been cited as reasons for it being produced locally as the Saveiro had never been developed for right-hand-drive markets.
Well publicised comments by Volkswagen South Africa Managing Director, Martina Biene, to Engineering News in 2022 about the bakkie have also been attributed to the likelihood of potentially four models being produced at Kariega before the end of the decade.
As it stands though, focus remains on the vehicle Biene described at its formal announcement two years ago as having an “SUV bodystyle and is currently not being produced anywhere else”.
Its closer aligning with the Brazilian model, as indicated by the same platform rather than that of the Skoda, means an expected difference in dimensions, possibly more than four metres, and subtle changes in exterior styling.
Either way, the unveiling of the Skoda variant first will still provide a preview of what South Africa could happen in 2026.
Additional information from autocarindia.com.
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