Skoda Kodiaq 2025 Review - International

The Australia-bound 2025 Skoda Kodiaqs haven’t rolled out of the factory yet, which still leaves the local importer room to move in time for a first quarter arrival next year.

Like the Superb before it, the Kodiaq will maintain its competitive pricing position relative to its market rivals – and that includes upmarket variants of the Tiguan Allspace from sister brand, Volkswagen. So the new Kodiaq will start within easy reach of the current entry cars, priced from $56,490, plus on-road costs. The Sportline is currently $61,490, while the RS range-topper is $76,890.

There are details to be inked in for the Australian versions of the 2025 Skoda Kodiaq, but the broad strokes have been revealed.

Local buyers will be offered, effectively, four versions of the 4758mm-long Kodiaq: the entry-level Style, an uprated Style, the Sportline and the top-spec RS (which accounts for half of the current Kodiaq’s sales, and is expected to do at least that well again).

The Kodiaq Style will be the cheapest variant, but Skoda insists it will be the class leader for equipment at that price point. And there will be a Signature Pack available, adding niceties like powered leather seats with memory functions, and a better sound system.

The Kodiaq Sportline will get more of everything, including aluminium-faced pedals, bigger rims, sportier seats and an increased focus on design, rather than pure practicality. It also has the option of massage seats, which are actually very nice indeed.

Riding on the almost ubiquitous Volkswagen Group MQB Evo platform, the Skoda Kodiaq enjoys a lot of advantages, including lower production cost and the choice of one of the biggest R&D kitbags in the entire car industry.

The platform now runs a staggering array of active safety measures, highlighted by its new Turn Assist to minimise the risk of collisions at junctions. It also has Remote Park Assist, to allow drivers to park it via the MySkoda app from within four metres of the outside of the car.

All the systems from its predecessor carry over to the new Kodiaq, which fields a suite of nano radar sensors on the front and rear bumpers. These are specifically there to uprate the security in traffic by covering the blind spot and delivering rear-cross traffic help. The system will autonomously stop the car to avoid crashes with cars, cyclists, scooters or even pedestrians.

Sited at the corners of the car, the nano radar sensors monitor up to 90 metres (up from 70 metres) in blind spots, sending more detailed information to the computers that control the assistance systems. The facilities relying on the sensors include Crossroad Assist, Collision Avoidance Assist and Exit Warning, all geared up to use electronic systems to cancel out blind spots and minimise risk from inattentiveness.

Should all that fail, the Kodiaq features up to nine airbags, with occupants up front scoring front and side airbags, plus another one between the driver and the front-seat passenger. There are optional side airbags for the second row of seating.

Clever attention to detail has always marked Skoda out as a little bit different, in a good way, and that remains the case with the 2025 Kodiaq.

Lots of cars and SUVs have hooks in the luggage area, but the Kodiaq offers have two of them at the same height to hold things like fold-up chairs. There are also flip-out door-edge protectors to prevent car-park incidents, mechanical sun blinds for the rear seats and a comprehensive, easy-to-use luggage net.

Matrix LED headlights are standard on the Sportline and upwards, but optional on the Kodiaq Style. A horizontal light strip doubles as the DRL (daytime running lights), and the entire car is about six centimetres longer, with better aerodynamics (down to a Cd of 0.28), thanks to active cooling louvres in the grille.

The headlights generate a light spread on high beam 50 per cent better than the previous model’s, and there are LED rear lights across the range.

In Europe, the base Kodiaq Style rolls on 17-inch wheels, while the Sportline is fitted with 19-inch wheels and the Kodiaq RS comes standard with 20-inch rims. Expect the twennies to stay for Australia at the top end, and the Kodiaq Style to move a step larger. To set them off, the Kodiaq will come with the choice of two solid colours and seven metallics.

Underneath, the highlight is the new DCC Plus dynamic chassis control, which uses two independently controlled valves to split the compression and rebound stages of the dampers’ work, delivering an improved ride, faster reactions and better handling.

The 2025 Skoda Kodiaq runs the 2.0-litre, fuel-injected turbo-petrol motor up front, powering all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

And, Skoda says that 142kW is enough to satisify Aussie buyers. The importer is leaving the 1.5-litre, 100kW version, the 2.0-litre turbo-diesels and the plug-in hybrid (with 100km of EV range) in Europe. With 320Nm of torque on tap, high-performance claims are right out. Instead, there’s a modest but useful zero to 100km/h sprint of 8.4 seconds, and a 207km/h top speed.

Skoda hasn’t locked down the Australian figures on the 2025 Kodiaq yet, but the European WLTP figures suggest it should poll between 5.9 and 6.6L/100km on the combined cycle. That’ll be good enough for CO2 emissions of between 131 and 151g/km.

There’s a fuss-free solidity to everything the 2024 Skoda Kodiaq does on the road, whether it’s at low speed, high speed or making its way around corners or over rougher roads.

It’s never going to be mistaken for a hot hatch or sports sedan, but the Kodiaq verges on fluster-proof, and that’s going to be more than enough for most customers in the market.

Interestingly, the biggest areas of frustration in the outgoing car are the biggest areas of advance in the new one, with the infotainment system leaping forward enormously, in part thanks to the three dials that allow people a more intuitive user experience. The artificial intelligence component is still a wait-and-see (and it only knew one joke when we asked), but the actual user interface works far better than before and the graphics and the feel of the smart dials are brilliant.

The engine itself is more sewing machine than supercar, and that’s fine, because so too is the handling and cornering. Smooth and seamless, the engine never feels particularly strained as it pulls the bigger Kodiaq up to speed, and its work is only hampered by some indecisiveness from the dual-clutch automatic at low speeds, where it holds gears longer than it should and occasionally struggles to figure out which gear to select on a downchange.

In corners, the grip levels are predictably high, and the ease with which the Kodiaq will allow anybody to access them is truly impressive. SUV roadholding is not there to be enjoyed, like a sports car, but to be used when needed, like in avoiding hazards. To ensure this remains the case, Skoda has removed any joy from driving the Kodiaq at the limit.

The steering is heavier than most would expect, but does offer some feedback. And although the Kodiaq pays a price in ride firmness on the larger wheel rims, the DCC adaptive damping does a good job soaking up the worst of the driving world’s imperfections.

It remains the kind of car that champions practicality above all else, in all things, and that’s how it feels to drive. It’s just a rock-solid mile eater, and everything just… works.

Maybe the main area of criticism for the outgoing Skoda Kodiaq was the hard feel of its interior plastics and the dash design, but those days are about to be a memory. Those harder plastics have been ditched, and Skoda designers have turned to eco-friendlier tanning processes for the leather trims, and recycled textiles in areas like the dashboard and the seats.

The new Kodiaq has a list of equipment that has incrementally moved forward about 10 per cent, with better, easier smartphone connectivity, wireless phone charging and the addition of ChatGPT artificial intelligence now accessible through the 13-inch, free-standing infotainment system. While other companies have moved to fully touch-operated controls or sliders, the Kodiaq takes a welcome step back with three rotary controls, each with their own small digital screen, below the main screen, to make vehicle and infotainment functions more intuitive to manage.

The dials share six functions (infotainment volume, fan speed, fan direction, driving modes, map zoom) that are toggled by simply pushing it down until the haptic sensation clicks. An eight-speaker audio system is standard, although Skoda also offers a 13-speaker Canton Sound option, which includes a subwoofer inside the space-saver spare tyre.

A 10-inch digital screen for the driver’s instrument cluster is complemented by an optional head-up display. And the standard voice assistant makes it faster (theoretically) to find what you need.

The gear selector has moved from the centre console to the steering column to free up more space for the console. And a ventilated phone box is big enough to charge two phones simultaneously, with up to 15 Watts of power on tap. Four 45W USB C charging outlets are located next to the 2.1-litre centre console.

Kodiaq buyers will enjoy more comfortable seating up front, a 40:20:40 split-fold bench in the middle, and the two kiddie-sized fold-down seats at the very rear. Getting into the rear is a simple task of flicking down the middle seats with one lever, but legroom back there is at a premium, even when the middle row is moved forwards. It’s a temporary solution, rather than a long-term one.

The arrangement leaves the Kodiaq with enormous luggage capacity, though. Out of the slightly longer 4758mm overall length (and 2791mm wheelbase), the Kodiaq delivers 910 litres of standard luggage capacity, but can boost that to 2105 with the middle seats folded as flat as the rear seats.

Even with the third row occupied, there is still enough room for 340 litres of luggage.

Competition in this field is stiff and getting stiffer, but there’s a lot to recommend in the 2025 Skoda Kodiaq.

The standout is the new interior, featuring the renewable materials in the dash and the seats, the far faster infotainment system, and an ambience that leaves a nagging feeling that you should be paying more for it.

But the Kodiaq feels strong across a broad range of criteria. While the sheer mass of the Kodiaq is obvious whenever a corner arrives, it never feels disorganised or clumsy; just as though it needs the same attention you’d give any other SUV in a corner.

Five up, the Kodiaq delivers astonishing luggage capacity, and the sixth and seventh seats should really be temporary-only solutions.

Viewed through that lens, the Kodiaq is a convincing car all round, living in the sweet spot between interesting and comfortable.

2025 Skoda Kodiaq at a glance:
Price: Estimated $72,000-ish starting price
Available: Q1 2025
Powertrain: 2.0-litre four-cylinder, turbocharged petrol
Output: 150kW/320Nm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 5.9-6.6L/100km (WLTP)
CO2: 37-39g/km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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