[pkk077]

Looks like a competent allrounder. With Kushaq, Skoda can pull a few customer looking for european feel and safety away from Jeep Compass petrol given the lower price and a decent FE.

[nitkel]

Originally Posted by GTO

I agree with the comments on cost-cutting, but will state that roofliners & seat covers etc. are easy to fix in the aftermarket. What you cannot fix in the aftermarket are fundamentals like a solid build, factory-strong engine, beautiful suspension, safety kit like the standard ESP and so on. This is where the Kushaq scores. In the area of fundamentals, it is very sorted (except of course long-term reliability which is a pain with most Skodas).

The durability of the steering and suspension components is suspect though! My Vento came with the locally sourced shock absorbers (Gabriel ones, same as Polo and Rapid) which started deteriorating rapidly. Now at 45000 Km, the rear ones are completely shot while the front ones have hardly any damping left with the car jumping all over the place on undulations. Also, other steering and suspension components have become weak with rattling and squeaky noises becoming a regular affair. Contrastingly, my Fiesta had really durable steering & suspension components that lasted almost 1 lakh kilometers without fuss. So, I would be really wary of an "Indianised" VAG car!

[TorqueIndia]

Great review as always, looks like a great package Skoda is going to give us tommorow. There are lot of missing equipments and cost cuttings but I'm expecting such a VFM launch pricing with all these missings. Expecting at least one set of Rapid rider kind of MT and AT variants at the launch. Very few design elements looks weird for me from start, thought it was something with the SAIC-VW designs, later found it was the front bumper which has an uncanny resemblance with the ugly duckling Maruti SCross !



Apart from the non-flat folding rear seats, front bumper and rear hatch door chrome insert, I like the package a lot especially in dark shades. Skoda can easily pull a dual line up strategy with the two powertrains 1.0 Turbo variants with Scross, Duster, Kicks kind of pricing overlapping sub 4m CSUVs and 1.5 Turbo against the equivalent Creta and Seltos variants.

All the very best wishes to Zac Hollis and team, every manufacturer in India needs atleast a single high selling product to survive, it's clear 'KUSHAQ' will do it for Skoda this time.

A KUSHAQ rider 1.0 AT variant at 10 Lakhs ex.showroom will be alluring.

KUSHAQ would have been made on the Alfa architecture from Tata Motors if their relationship had survived. We can expect the next gen RAPID too on the same platform and with similar packages soon.

[wittycat]

Does anyone know the PCD of the wheels on this car?

[theguardian]

As usual, a 5-star review. 2 additional ones from my side for the team who actually took time & risk to review the Kushaq in these trying times.

While the product looks promising, few misses from Skoda; interior fit & finish & the tight back seating capacity.

I hope, Skoda prices Kushaq reasonably. Yesterday did a bit of thinking on the pricing and my instincts tell me that Skoda may do some omissions in the Rapid lineup and may offer Kushaq's 1.0 Litre variant at a similar price.

For example, the Rapid 1.0 Litre Ambition AT is available for around 13.80 Lacs (OTR) here in Pune, so is it possible for them to remove this variant and offer Kushaq Ambition 1.0 Litre AT at around 14 Lacs? Similarly for higher variants like Style. Though, they may command a generous premium for a 1.5 Litre TSI.

[volkman10]

Some more official information on Kushaq:

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Axe77

What would be your pick between Seltos DCT, Creta DCT and 1.5 Kushaq DSG (assuming all top variants)?

No Creta for me as looks are very important and the Creta is one of the ugliest cars on sale IMHO.

Love the Seltos & the Kushaq, both. But we dropped the Seltos due to its poor safety rating (bringing it home was almost a done deal until the GNCAP happened). For high usage, but only in the city, I would totally consider a Seltos Diesel AT. For everything else, the Kushaq, although the dilemma really is to DSG or not to DSG. That damn DQ200 will break down for sure and if it does in the middle of a Mumbai-Goa drive or in Mahabaleshwar, it's going to be painful.

[Sebring]

Thanks. 'Pull out storage under steering wheel' is a stand-out feature. I've always wondered why car makers dont give us storage there. Seems the most obvious place

Originally Posted by volkman10

Some more official information on Kushaq

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by wittycat

Does anyone know the PCD of the wheels on this car?

The Kamiq has a PCD of 100 mm and the Karoq has 112 mm. I’m guessing this would take after the Kamiq. The detailed brochure will clear that out.

[karanddd]

I am curious as to why people go around claiming "solid build quality" and "European finesse" or "European build" to refer to the most unreliable (and unsolid, in a sense) cars in the Indian market? Is there any objective basis to claiming that made-in-India Volkswagen and Skoda cars are somehow superior in build quality to Hyundai, Kia, Maruti, Tata etc.? Or is it just anti-Indian, anti-Asian prejudice? Just from my experience, I have felt most Indian cars under Rs. 20 lakh that I've sat in or driven to feel more or less similar in how "solid" they feel, i.e. they feel solid enough, nothing fantastic, but nothing horrendous either. I am inclined to think it's a purely psychological thing, and if this very same car came with an MG or Ssangyong badge, the reviewers would use terms like "solid" and "well built" with less abandon.

[Abhinav_2502]

Great Review as always and Kudos to the team to bring in a proper Team BHP review within the short time frame.

Kushaq seems to be a great package and the solid build + sorted ride + Classy looks already make it a compelling option compared to many of the competitors for me atleast.

Originally Posted by volkman10

Some more official information on Kushaq:

Attachment 2171894

Is this picture of a future variant perhaps an L&K car?

Asking this because the seats seem to be of a different colour and I spot those Digital Dials many have been asking for. I hope this means this variant isn't too far away.

[drpudhi]

Originally Posted by karanddd

I am curious as to why people go around claiming "solid build quality" and "European finesse" or "European build" to refer to the most unreliable (and unsolid, in a sense) cars in the Indian market? Is there any objective basis to claiming that made-in-India Volkswagen and Skoda cars are somehow superior in build quality to Hyundai, Kia, Maruti, Tata etc.? Or is it just anti-Indian, anti-Asian prejudice? Just from my experience, I have felt most Indian cars under Rs. 20 lakh that I've sat in or driven to feel more or less similar in how "solid" they feel, i.e. they feel solid enough, nothing fantastic, but nothing horrendous either. I am inclined to think it's a purely psychological thing, and if this very same car came with an MG or Ssangyong badge, the reviewers would use terms like "solid" and "well built" with less abandon.

I agree. If the reviews are anything to go by, I'm pretty sure the Kushaq is far from European in build. My 2013 Polo GT has a better thud than this and the roof lining seems horrendous from the below screen shot from Evo review.

[S15]

Originally Posted by karanddd

I am curious as to why people go around claiming "solid build quality" and "European finesse" or "European build" to refer to the most unreliable (and unsolid, in a sense) cars in the Indian market?

If you have ever closed the door on a Swift, Elite i20 and the Polo, and not felt even a slight difference between the three, then, I'm afraid, I have nothing to say to you, or to your cognitive abilities.

And as for unreliable, our petrol polo has been fill-it-shut-it-forget reliable for 95 thousand KMs, and so has my cousin's 1.6 diesel rapid, for 1.5 lakh + km.

[Rajeevraj]

Wow, 9 pages of discussion in one day! Shows how eagerly awaited this car is. Great review and thanks for sharing. Obviously a concern that stands out is the use of the DQ200 DSG running at its peak supported torque of 250nM. Hope Skoda is prepped to handle the volumes that would come with it.

Only hope that Skoda does not prioritise margins on this one too. My hope and assumption is that they pushed up the margins on the Octavia and Kodiaq in order to give some cushion for a more aggressive pricing for the Kushaq. As it is the Creta and Seltos are overpriced, a premium over that also may be a deal breaker.

Seeing several posts on the boot space. Although it may be smaller from a listed volume in litres from others, pretty sure the usable space will be as good as the others. My Vento has a listed 460L boot space but can take a good amount more than my earlier SX4 which had a listed 500+ litres.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by drpudhi

I agree. If the reviews are anything to go by, I'm pretty sure the Kushaq is far from European in build. My 2013 Polo GT has a better thud than this and the roof lining seems horrendous from the below screen shot from Evo review.

+1 this seems to be a serious cost cutting endeavour? My 2018 Ecosport S has much better fit of the sunroof panel and the roof liner.

It doesn't have the features (many of them).
It doesn't get some of the active/passive safety aids in the segment.
It doesn't get the diesel engine.
It has one of the most notoriously unreliable gearboxes.
It's dealers are most notorious for their ASS horror stories.
It's neither got the road presence of the Creta/Seltos (or even larger Hector/Harrier), nor the interior space for 5 adults (even creta/seltos have much better space for 5 people).
It's neither got the segment thrashing performance (Korean twins/Duster comes close).
Neither has it got the fit/finish and build quality of the traditional European cars.

Why are we hyping up the Kushaq again?

From my perspective, I own a Ecosport S TDCI, and by next year will be on the lookout for a (second) car in the 10-20L rupee segment. Skoda has no answer, for why I should even be considering the Kushaq? Ecosport already has the similar level of equipment (bar the ventilated seats), has a punchy diesel manual GB, a very reliable reputation, one of the best ASS (very happy for past 2 years), an exciting driving feel, and great road presence. I can't think of a single reason Kushaq will significantly triumph the Ecosport. Infact Ecosport has its own aces in form of the build quality, fit and finish, some unique equipment (color configurable Ambient lights, puddle lamps, etc.)

If they manage to price it at some shockingly low prices, it might have a chance, other than that, a fat NO from my end!

PS- didn't want this post to look like a Kushaq bashing/Ecosport praising comment. It just came out naturally. Sorry for the rant.