Skoda Kodiaq GT Looks Like A Toned-Down Kodiaq RS Inside

Following last month’s preview, Skoda has officially unveiled the Kodiaq GT crossover in Shanghai, China.

Skoda’s first SUV coupe has made its maiden public appearance at the Czech stand of the China International Import Expo 2018. Meanwhile, the new model’s auto show debut will take place later this month in Guangzhou (November 16-25), and up until now, Skoda showed only exterior photos of the 4.63-m (182.3-in) long Kodiaq GT.

There was only one design sketch of the cabin, although usually you can’t really trust official renderings to offer an accurate preview of the real car.

In this case however, the sketch was pretty close to reality. The first interior images of the Skoda GT reveal a sporty-flavored cabin dominated by a pair of sports seats with integrated headrests. The seating area and the backrest feature perforated leather, while the rest of the seat gets normal leather.

Another interior highlight is the flat-bottomed steering wheel wrapped in the same material. It looks similar to the Kodiaq RS‘s wheel but it lacks the red stitching and vRS logo. Interestingly, it doesn’t get paddle shifters either, even though it’s clear that the photos show a DSG-equipped model. Maybe the paddles are an optional feature in China.

The dashboard is obviously the same one from the regular Kodiaq SUV, with the GT model getting the Virtual Cockpit gauge cluster and a big central touchscreen display. The infotainment system’s connectivity features include Wi-Fi access, MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay, and Baidu’s Carlife.

As a reminder, the Kodiaq GT offers two 2.0-liter TSI engines in China with 186 PS (183 hp) and 220 PS (217 hp), respectively. The entry-level unit comes with front-wheel drive while the more powerful one brings all-wheel drive and a seven-speed DSG transmission as standard.

The Kodiaq GT is part of a China-focused SUV campaign that began with the introduction of the Kodiaq in 2017. The smaller Kamiq and Karoq models followed in the first half of 2018.

With the Kodiaq GT’s launch as the range’s flagship, the Asian country will be the first market in the world where Skoda will have four different SUVs on sale.