After a journey of 10 years, Skoda Rapid has been discontinued from India – Confirmed Zac Hollis, Brand Director Skoda India
Unveiled back in late 2011, Skoda Rapid was launched in the Indian market to take on the likes of Honda City and Hyundai Verna. 10 years ago, sedans were more in demand. City and Verna were fighting it out for the top spot in the segment. VW had the Vento and Skoda entered the ring with Rapid. Maruti was also there with the SX4 along with Fiat Linea, etc.
With sedan sales on the decline, thanks to boost in SUV demand – manufacturers have either given generation updates to their respective sedans, or have simply discontinued their product. Fiat Linea was gone, and so was Maruti SX4. Honda City and Hyundai Verna continued the journey, as both of them got generation updates
Skoda Rapid Discontinued
City has in fact gotten two generation updates since the Rapid was launched. What replaced SX4, was Maruti Ciaz – which finally managed to break the dominance of City and Verna at the top. But Skoda Rapid and Volkswagen Vento continued with the same setup, with a few changes here and there.
Finally, Skoda and Volkswagen are ready to launch new gen sedans. Skoda will be revealing the Salvia on 18th Nov, which will replace the Rapid. Volkswagen is expected to release their version of Slavia (expected to be called Virtus) in Q1 2022.
Skoda has confirmed that they are discontinuing Rapid. Till date, more than 1 lakh Rapid have been sold in India. Production is officially ended, and the recently launched matte edition was in fact the last batch of Rapid. Volkswagen is also expected to give the same treatment to Vento in the coming weeks.
New Skoda Slavia
Replacing the Rapid will be a new generation sedan called Slavia. It is bigger than Rapid, and is also more powerful. It is built on the same platform as Skoda Kushaq SUV and gets the same engine and transmission options.
The 1.0 liter TSI petrol engine is from the EA211 family making 115 hp power while the 1.5 liter TSI will put out 150 hp peak power and 250 Nm torque. Transmission options will include a 6 speed manual gearbox or 6 speed torque converter on the 1.0 liter TSI while the larger engine will be mated to a quick-shifting twin-clutch automatic gearbox which will ensure class leading performance on the new Skoda sedan.
Skoda Slavia is expected to be launched at an aggressive price, thanks to high localization levels. Official debut is set for 18th Nov, while launch is expected to take place soon after. More details are expected to be released closet to launch.
