Wheels & Deals: Škoda’s Kodiaq to get first update and facelift in four years
Price Starting New Excluding And Charges €38,150 Kodiaq For The Is Related Delivery
Four years after its Irish market launch and with some 7,127 sales here, Škoda’s Kodiaq SUV is being updated this month.
The facelifted Kodiaq will receive a new exterior design and interior material changes as well as Škoda’s latest technologies such as full-LED Matrix headlights.
It will now be offered exclusively as a seven-seat version — in Active, Ambition, Style and Sportline trim levels — and will be arriving in Škoda dealers across Ireland this month.
Starting price for the new Kodiaq is €38,150 excluding delivery and related charges.
John Donegan, Škoda Ireland brand director, said: “The Kodiaq has helped propel the Škoda brand to new heights, moving us into fourth position in the Irish sales rankings. The new version has improved interiors and even more standard equipment and safety features.”
He admitted that the Kodiaq has often been a victim of its own success with demand outstripping supply and urged customers considering the new revised SUV for 2022 to engage with their local dealer at their earliest convenience to avoid delays and disappointment.
“I am confident our customers will love the new revised Kodiaq just as much as the outgoing version,” he added.
The new Kodiaq will be offered in Ireland with three advanced and efficient EVO engines from the Volkswagen Group.
The two 2.0 TDI diesel engines produce less emissions thanks to the ‘twin dosing’ exhaust gas treatment and produce 110 kW (150 bhp) and 147 kW (200 bhp) in combination with a 7-speed DSG automatic transmission.
The more powerful diesel engine is offered exclusively with all-wheel drive.
A petrol driven 1.5 TSI, with an output of 110 kW (150 bhp), is the only model offered with a manual 6-speed gearbox in addition to a DSG transmission and is offered in two-wheel drive only.
The Kodiaq RS with a 2.0 TSI 180 kW (245 bhp) petrol will not be offered on the Irish market.
DACIA JOGGER
Dacia has announced the name of its new versatile five- or seven-seater family car and it will be called the Jogger.
Dacia says the Jogger will be a vehicle for families to use for both their daily adventures and their trips in the great outdoors.
With its pragmatic spirit, Dacia offers a vehicle that allows its customers to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, with friends and family, in complete freedom.
The company also maintains that Jogger is a simple, modern name that anyone can pronounce and is universally understood. It represents dynamism, positive energy, and the outdoor spirit.
The suffix ‘er’ as with Duster, Dacia’s iconic SUV model, evokes the robustness and endurance of an ideal everyday companion for Dacia families.
KIA EV6 CROSSOVER
Kia is teasing more details of its highly anticipated EV6 electric crossover.
They’re telling us that it has been equipped with class-leading levels of safety and convenience, including an advanced suite of driver assistance systems.
To ensure safety and convenience, Kia says the EV6 features the firm’s latest Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA2) package.
Using radars located around the vehicle, the system can help the driver to maintain a set distance and speed from the vehicle ahead while Lane Following Assist technology centres the vehicle in its lane.
Using Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control with Curve Control the system can reduce the vehicle speed through curves and reset the speed once conditions allow.
The HDA2 package will be available in Ireland on the GT model which will be launched in in the second half of next year.
Further convenience comes from the fact the EV6 also features Kia’s Smart Power Tailgate. By pocketing the EV6’s Smart Key and approaching the rear of the vehicle, the system will recognise the key and will open the tailgate automatically, allowing easy and convenient access to the boot, a boon for those whose hands are full.
We will have more on this exciting new beast in the coming weeks.
BMW EDRIVE ZONES
BMW says it is making an important contribution to incentivise consumers to electric driving by launching a new digital service, BMW eDrive Zones, in Ireland.
With electric ranges of up to 88 kilometres, BMW plug-in hybrid models are perfectly suited to urban and city driving by completing most commutes with pure-electric power. This new service helps drivers do just that.
The BMW eDrive Zone technology automates the process of switching to electric-only power when a BMW plug-in hybrid vehicle enters a defined area of a city. Already active in Dublin and Limerick, BMW has further plans to launch its eDrive Zones in Cork and Galway in the coming year.
Unique in the worldwide automotive industry and a first in Ireland, a BMW eDrive Zone automatically ensures that the electric power is conserved for use during the part of the journey within defined zones, if the journey destination is entered into the vehicle’s navigation system.
This new technology ensures BMW plug-in hybrid models offer consumers the best of both worlds: electric-only driving in the city where it makes the most difference, and a highly efficient internal combustion engine to cover long distances.
In addition, there are plans in progress to introduce the BMW Points loyalty programme in Ireland, where drivers of BMW plug-in hybrid models will be rewarded with attractive offerings via a point system.
This has already been launched to BMW customers in the UK. Every electrically driven kilometre will count and within an eDrive Zone, twice as many points can be collected.
BMW Group currently offers 14 electrified vehicles across its brand portfolio. This will be increased to a total of 25 electrified models on the road by the end of 2023, with more than half of those models fully electric.
In Europe, the BMW Group expects that electrified vehicles will account for a quarter of sales by 2021, a third by 2025 and half by 2030.