News

A look back at the history of the Skoda Rapid

11th February 2022, 09:17 by Dev Shah

The name Rapid was used for the first time in the 1930s, and then in the 1980s for a rear wheel drive coupe.

BHPian sachin_cs recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is an emotional moment. The Rapid is not just a car for me, rather it was the link between me and this forum, the first ever exhaustive car review I ever saw on any platform, be it print or internet was the review of Skoda Rapid back in 2011 on our very own Team BHP. I was just blown away by the attention to detail by the mods and now almost 10 years later, I am happy to confess that I’m addicted to Team BHP.

Coming to the car itself:

The name Rapid was used for the first time in the 1930s, and then in the 1980s for a rear wheel drive coupe.

The current generation was resurrected in 2011 on the PQ25 platform. Skoda Rapid (code named-SK251) was launched in my birthday month, November 2011 and I had a huge crush on the car, I was 16 at that time and I would click pictures of every Rapid I would spot, never thought that I would drive one someday. Our car ownership journey started back in 2004 with a humble Alto and till now we have owned 6 cars and by far the best car we have ever owned is our Rapid. Everyone in my family just loves the car. It’s fast, its safe, its frugal, it’s comfortable, it’s reliable so far and the DSG, oh boy! It’s sad that they don’t make such cars anymore at this price point. If I want a genuine upgrade from my Rapid, the only way would be a lateral upgrade or the no brainer Octavia. I would also agree that Skoda has milked the platform for too long, but I don’t have any problem as long as it’s doing its job and at times better than newer competition.

I was going through all the official reviews of the car throughout its iteration and I have gathered some interesting facts:

2011:

Car was launched in November and it did total sales of 957 in the first month.
December sales were 1296.
Car was launched at 6.75-9.19 L ex showroom.
Engines on offer - EA111 1.6MPI 105PS/153NM paired with 5MT/6AT and 1.6 TDI 105PS/250NM with 5MT.

2012:

The year 2012 saw the highest dispatch at 22,162 units.
If my number crunching abilities are to be trusted, the highest ever monthly dispatch recorded for Rapid is at 3,246 cars in the month of June.

2014:

June 2014 saw the total dispatch figures of 44,440 Rapids.
December 2014 Rapid crossed the 50k milestone at 50,897 units.
DSG was introduced for the very first time and 1.5 TDi made its debut due to taxation and stuff.

2016:

Received the most significant update on lines of the new Skoda design language and made the car a baby Octavia.
Car was available for 8.28-12.67 L ex-showroom.

2018:

In the last quarter Rapid received few additions like rear charging socket, Projector on ambition variant, 16 alloys for Style, rear camera, RCD 340G plus from ambition onwards, pre-existing wiring harness for rear camera in Ambition variant which made installation of camera a plug and play affair.

2020:

Final goodbye to the torque king 1.5TDi 110PS/250NM 5MT/7AT.
EA 211 1.0 TSi monster made its debut with 110PS/175NM paired to 6MT & 6AT.
Car was available for 7.49-11.79L ex-showroom.

2021:

Lowest ever dispatch of Rapid was mere 22 units in November (barring Covid times).
Last month of dispatch was December with 158 units.

2022:

January saw 00 dispatches.
Officially the car has been discontinued.

The Rapid has been the most successful offering from the Czech company on Indian soil which stood the test of the time, harsh road conditions and lethal market competition. At 1,18,266 Rapids sold in India, it indeed is a success for the brand and also the owners who got to experience German engineering at affordable costs. With this note, I would like to bid bye to the lovely Skoda Rapid and I really hope the successor, the Slavia delivers on the expectations of us loyal Skoda enthusiasts.

Some pictures of my beauty: