Skoda Kodiaq RS mauls competitors

The Skoda Kodiaq RS is now on sale in Australia and promises to make a tough market even tougher for the Volvo XC60, Jaguar F-PACE and Ford’s Everest Titanium.

Priced from $65,990 (or $71,990 drive-away), the Kodiaq RS comes with a host of features that its competitors can’t match, according to importer Volkswagen Australia.

Two ostensible competitors to the Kodiaq RS are the Jaguar F-PACE and the Volvo XC60. The way the Skoda importer tells it, the Volvo XC60 D5 R-Design is $10,000 more expensive and it lacks features that are standard in the Kodiaq RS. Volkswagen Australia estimates the total difference in value to be worth $16,536 to the retail buyer – including the difference in purchase price. These added features or benefits include a DVD player, an SD card slot, premium audio, wireless smartphone charging, rear heated seats, seven-seat capacity, self parking and a five-year warranty.

Compared with the Jaguar F-PACE 20d R-Sport, the Kodiaq RS is priced over $20,000 lower, and the added standard features take the Skoda’s claimed total value advantage to $31,365. On the same basis, the Ford Everest Titanium also suffers in comparison with the Kodiaq applying the same number crunching. The value gap is $14,986 in the Skoda’s favour.

Volkswagen’s analysis once again raises the issue of VFACTS market segmentation. As another large SUV, the Everest is a direct competitor to the Kodiaq RS. But both the XC60 and the F-PACE are deemed to be prestige models – so not direct rivals to the Kodiaq. And some of the Jaguar’s purchase price includes luxury car tax, which isn’t the case for the Skoda (or the Volvo).

Furthermore, although the Kodiaq is a large SUV, in terms of VFACTS market segmentation, it’s actually shorter than the BMW X3 and slightly narrower than both the BMW and the Mercedes-Benz GLC, two SUVs in the medium segment. Mercedes-Benz no longer offers the GLC in a diesel variant in Australia, relying instead on a hybrid model to fill that niche.

But BMW’s X3 does offer a comparable rival to the Kodiaq RS in the form of the BMW X3 xDrive20d. It lacks the Kodiaq’s performance, but is more affordable and wears a recognised prestige badge.

Can Skoda sales staff convince buyers to look past that badge? Wait and see...

Read the 2020 Skoda Kodiaq RS Review