Skoda unveiled the Kushaq which is their first vehicle under India 2.0 strategy. The manufacturer has worked hard to make sure that the new SUV is able to appeal to the Indian market. It is a mid-size SUV, which is a very competitive segment. It is going against the likes of Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Tata Harrier, MG Hector, Nissan Kicks, Renault Duster and the upcoming Volkswagen Taigun. The Czech manufacturer will be launching the SUV and revealing the price in June 2021. We expect it to start from somewhere around Rs. 9 lakhs ex-showroom. The Kushaq was recently spotted on Indian roads without camouflage ahead of the launch.

The video is uploaded by the Far Biker on his YouTube channel. The video shows us a Kushaq finished in Carbon Steel paint scheme that is going down the road. The video gives us a good idea about how the new mid-size SUV will look on our Indian roads. It also gives us an idea about what kind of road presence we can expect from the Kushaq.

The dimensions of the Kushaq are smaller than some competitors but it still gives off a very premium road presence. It looks like a smaller version of the Karoq, especially in this colour. At the front, we get angular LED headlamps with a projector setup. There is also an L-shaped LED Daytime Running Lamp. On the road, the headlamp design does look quite striking. Then there are the halogen fog lamps that are placed just below the headlamps instead of being in the lower half of the bumper which is usually their place. Skoda’s butterfly grille gets a chrome surround and there is wide airdam in the lower half of the bumper. There is also a faux skid plate just below the airdam.

Then we come towards the side profile of the Kushaq where there are chrome door handles, chrome belt line for the windows and silver roof rails. There is also black plastic cladding that runs throughout the side profile of the SUV. The wheel wells are filled with 17-inch dual-tone alloy wheels.

At the rear, there are LED tail lamps that are similar to the ones found on other Skoda vehicles. They are in inverterd L-shaped LED tail lamps. The turn indicators and the reversing lamps are placed in the small housing under the tail lamp. There are also L-shaped reflectors placed that below the tail lamps. There is ‘SKODA’ badging spread across the tailgate between the tail lamps. There is also a rear spoiler, a shark-fin antenna, a rear wiper with washer and a high-mounted stop lamp.

Powering the Skoda Kushaq will be two petrol engine options. There will be a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder TSI engine and a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder TSI engine. The 1.0-litre TSI will produce 115 PS of max power and a peak torque output of 175 Nm. It will be offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. The more powerful 1.5-litre TSI will produce 150 PS of max power and 250 Nm of peak torque. It will be offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed DSG DQ200 dual-clutch automatic gearbox.