It’s almost the end of 2021 and Skoda has already revealed what it has in store for the Indian buyers in the new year. It’s an all-new mid-size sedan christened Slavia that has been unveiled last month. The Slavia is expected to be launched in the country by March 2022 and here’s what we know about the sedan.

Design

The Slavia will tap and resuscitate the sedan segment in India. Locking horns with the segment leaders like the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, this Skoda brethren features the longest wheelbase of 2,651mm and will be the widest of the lot at 1,752mm. It is underpinned by the localised MQB A0 IN platform as the Kushaq and also draws some styling bits from the sibling.

At the front the Slavia wears the butterfly-shaped front grille flanked by LED projector headlamps and integrated L-shaped DRLs. The boot gets the sleek split LED tail lamps while the sedan rides on 16-inch alloy wheels. The Slavia is available in five exterior colours that include Tornado Red, Reflex Silver, Carbon Steel, Candy White, and Crystal Blue.

Features

The Slavia will boast features like an eight-inch digital driver’s display, a floating 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, ambient lighting, front ventilated seats, an electric sunroof, a leather-wrapped two-spoke steering wheel, and touch-based automatic climate control. On the safety front, the Slavia is equipped with six airbags, multi-collision brake, ESC, ISOFIX anchorage points, a reverse parking camera, hill-hold control, and a tyre pressure monitoring system. We have seen the Skoda Slavia in person and you can read our initial impressions here.

Engine and transmission

Skoda offers the Slavia with two petrol engines. The 1.0-litre TSI engine is tuned to generate 114bhp and 178Nm torque while the 1.5-litre TSI with active cylinder technology is tuned to produce 148bhp and 250Nm of peak torque. While a six-speed manual gearbox is common for both guises, the former gets a six-speed torque converter automatic while the latter benefits from a seven-speed DSG unit.

Expected price and launch date

The bookings of the Slavia have commenced for Rs 11,000 and the sedan will be launched in Q1 of 2022 and is likely to be priced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh (ex-showroom). It will rival the likes of Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, and Honda City.