The 7-Seater Skoda Kodiaq SUV Is Here To Make The Volvo XC90 Look Stupidly Expensive

It’s a good news day for parents who just can’t seem to stop having kids, with Skoda’s reveal of its new seven-seat SUV, set for a launch in the UK early next year.

The Kodiaq – because changing letters in words is cool, obvs – is a 4.7-metre monster that dwarfs the Yeti we know and love. It’s yours with five seats and a boot that could swallow Pluto, or seven seats and enough room for two stacked sets of golf clubs or an unholy amount of nappy bags. In fact Skoda claims the boot, which expands to 2065 litres with the seats all folded down, is the biggest in the class. Oooooh.

Looks are subjective and it might be a bit bland to some eyes, but it can tow up to 2.5 tonnes and with helpful tech like Trailer Assist it shouldn’t feature in too many embarrassing YouTube dashcam videos.

It’s based on the modular MQB chassis, which is the VW Group’s uber-flexible mid-sized platform underpinning the likes of the Golf, A4 and Octavia, albeit with different scaling. Whack it on a weighbridge and you’ll see somewhere in the region of 1.5 tonnes depending on engine and spec.

Skoda has released a lot of boring numbers showing exactly how big it is inside, but frankly all you need to know is that if you get in and feel a bit cramped, you should probably try auditioning for the next series of Game of Thrones as The Mountain’s big brother.

The 720-litre boot in the five-seater Kodiaq is mighty, though. You could misplace big stuff in there. Children could camp out in it. Dogs would be able to take themselves for walkies in the boot before you even get to the park.

There’s some clever stuff going on that we’re totally in favour of, too. Spring-loaded door edge protectors are something that should have been thought of years ago. We’re not too sure about the optional ‘sleep package headrests’, though. Full automation isn’t quite ready yet, Skoda…

Naturally there’s a full range of engines planned, and it’s all four-cylinder stuff you already know. From 1.4 TSI petrols to 2.0-litre TDI diesels there are no surprises here. The most powerful is a 187bhp 2.0 TDI with 295lb ft, while you can hook most of the engines up to either six-cog manuals or twin-clutch DSGs with six or seven speeds depending on spec.

There’s an off-road mode in the Kodiaq but the company doesn’t seem to rate it as very important, jamming it into a couple of sentences right at the end of the press release. It’s an optional extra that you have to add to another optional extra, which in turn you have to add to the optional four-wheel-drive, so let’s just leave that there.

Prices are yet to be confirmed but are expected to fall somewhere between ‘not cheap’ and ‘bloody hell, you could buy a Touareg for that’. There have been reports of a starting price of around £23,000 though, which for an SUV of such Brobdingnagian proportions is an utter bargain. Still want a Volvo XC90?