► Skoda confirms no small EVs for now
► Skoda boss says he’d rather focus on larger EVs
► Seven-seat Vision 7S EV confirmed for 2026
Skoda will focus most of its attention on larger electric cars as it keeps its smaller petrol cars on sale for as long as possible.
Speaking at the reveal of Skoda’s new Vision O estate car concept at the Munich motor show, Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer revealed that the firm would rather produce larger and more expensive EVs and let other brands within the Volkswagen Group take care of the smallest and cheapest electric cars.
Though Skoda will introduce the Epiq crossover (pictured below) in 2026 as the smallest EV in its current line-up, smaller battery-powered hatchback versions equivalent to Volkswagen’s ID.1 concept and recently-confirmed ID.Polo are not in the immediate pipeline.
Zellmer said that Volkswagen would ‘cover that part of the segment’ and that Skoda has ‘consciously decided not to be part of that project’.
Despite the Fabia, Kamiq and Scala all getting quite long in the tooth, and with no combustion replacements due, the Skoda boss said these would remain on sale for many more years because their ‘material cost versus the price that we can realise in the market’ puts the firm in a ‘strong position’.
‘We’d much rather look at the other [larger, more expensive] end of the market, which is the production version of the Vision 7S Concept. We are going to launch it next year as we try and divide and conquer within the group.’
The constant issue of the core Volkswagen Group brands stepping on each other’s toes remains, though Skoda has done a great job of distancing itself. To date it’s the only model within the VW Group to compete in the bustling medium family SUV, with its Elroq, and it’s resisted making an VW ID.3 equivalent. The Vision 7S will arrive in 2026 as the first proper seven-seat electric SUV from within the group.
‘Volkswagen has always been the brand who has covered it all, and people have often said ‘Skoda is the only down there [at the lower, cheaper end of the spectrum], but Skoda has never been down there with the Volkswagen Group.
‘At some point we need to make decisions and say, ‘do we want a battery electric vehicle only in that segment’, or do we believe in Fabia, Kamiq and Scala being the ones to deliver the most perspective in terms of profit and getting our money back.’
When asked if Skoda was at risk of becoming too posh, he said the ‘danger was always there’ but that if the firm is to get into the 10 per cent return on sales leagues it can’t do that in ‘entry-level pricing segments’.
Zellmer said that Skoda’s brand value had grown significantly in the past five years, giving it the ability to charge more for its cars, but stressed its models still deliver a ‘good price value relation’ and will continue to do so in the future.