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2017 Skoda Kodiaq Makes Public Road Test Debut

Skoda will launch its largest model yet this year, the Kodiaq SUV. We are talking about a seven-seat model expected to be revealed at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Until then, the Kodiaq is still being tested on public roads, so that engineers complete final touches and last-minute checks before the car is unveiled as a final version for production.
Skoda Kodiaq prototype 7 photos
Photo: CarPix
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As our friends from CarPix remarked, the set of spy images with the Skoda Kodiaq they sent us is the first that depicts the prototype of this model while driving on public roads.

Considering that Skoda has already unveiled the VisionS Concept this year during a presentation and announced its production version will come by the end of 2016, we are surprised to see the prototype with that much camouflage on its body.

Even with camouflage, we can spot a front grille characteristic to recent launches in the Skoda range, as well as multiple shapes and traits which the VisionS Concept has already revealed. This is not the first time Skoda shows a concept car and then launches a production model that’s almost identical to it just months later.

For those of you that remember, the VisionD Concept previewed the Rapid and the Rapid Spaceback models. Sure, it did not share the glass roof, but the front end and its general silhouette were spot on, while the production model got smaller wheels and a more standard interior.

Skoda named its new SUV Kodiaq after extensive research. The Czech automaker discovered a place called Kodiak Island, which had native inhabitants called Alutiiq. They called the Kodiak bear, which has approximately 3,500 examples on the island, “Taq uka aq,” where the “q” at the end was typical for names of animals in the Alutiiq culture.

Instead of publishing a press release on the topic, Skoda made a clever (pun intended) video where they changed the name of a city for a day. We are talking about the town of Kodiak in the Gulf of Alaska.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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