Skoda Kamiq Drives Into The Beijing Show With 1.5L Engine

After a multitude of teasers, Skoda finally presented their new Kamiq crossover at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show.

Described as a “new mainstream city SUV”, it;s positioned under the Karoq and Kodiaq SUV, making it the brand’s third high-riding vehicle available in China. This is where it will remain, too, as there are no current plans to offer it in Western markets.

Despite being positioned under the Karoq, the Skoda Kamiq is actually 8mm (0.31in) longer. Still, the rest of the dimensions fall behind the Karoq, as the Kamiq is 61mm (2.4in) narrower and 10mm (0.39in) lower, with a 2,610mm (102.8in) wheelbase.

Tailored specifically for China, the company’s entry-level SUV benefits from an 8-inch infotainment screen with Baidu CarLife, Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink. It also provides real-time traffic and weather information, and uses a speech recognition software from iFLYTEK, based on artificial intelligence, which understands regional Chinese dialects. This feature “automatically learns an individual or local language style”, according to the carmaker.

The Skoda Kamiq uses a newly developed 1.5-liter gasoline engine that makes 111PS (109hp / 81kW) and 150Nm (111lb-ft) of torque and works together with an automatic transmission.

Skoda will likely launch the Kamiq in the People’s Republic later this year, so stay tuned for more images and details.