Skoda returning to Malaysia with electric car range

KUALA LUMPUR: Skoda in Malaysia has been silent for more than a decade. Bermaz Motor, who is also the brand custodian for Mazda has been ‘holding’ on to the Skoda franchise all this time and there is no other contender in the Malaysian market interested to revive the brand for one simple reason.

With the many issues that plagued Volkswagen TSI engines and their DSG transmissions over that past decade, there was very little reason to keep selling Skoda cars. Why? Well, Skoda is 70 percent owned by the Volkswagen Group Germany and from the start of business, they have used Volkswagen engines and gearboxes with different exterior and interior designs. Plus, VW cars are locally assembled in Malaysia which means they have some import duty incentives allowing for better prices.

Skoda cars are fully imported and so they have full import tax fees which means they have a higher selling price which deters Malaysian consumers from wanting to own their vehicles.

Now, fast forward to 2022 and with the high tax incentives given by the Malaysian government recently for full-electric cars, it makes very good sense for the Skoda brand in Malaysia to be re-ignited with an electric car range.

 

Even Australia has just announced (a few days ago) the revival of the Skoda brand with two new electric cars. Australia, like Malaysia, has recently seen a higher interest in electric cars and ‘left field’ car brands like Hyundai and KIA and enjoying sales success with their IONIQ5 and EV6 full electric cars, despite being priced very close to German-made electric cars.

This gives more attention to battery range, technology features, and also design language over badge branding when it comes to electric car buyers.

With Bermaz still holding the Skoda franchise, they could easily re-ignite Skoda in Malaysia with two of their latest vehicles, both electric and both with a great battery range.

The Skoda Enyak iV which is an electric SUV based on Volkswagen’s current MEB platform for their EVs could be imported into Malaysia to test the market as its VW sibling is not planned as yet for launch.

The Enyak iV is a 5 seat Skoda SUV similar to the IONIQ5 that has a Cd factor of just 0.27. It is priced in Europe from RM195,000 which will probably land here in Malaysian showrooms at a price starting from RM235,000 which means it will be competing against the IONIQ5 and Volvo XC40 Electric.

The Enyak iV is available in three battery sizes and five power outputs. The cheapest of which will be the rear-wheel drive 60iV with a 177hp single electric motor powered by a 62 kWh battery pack that will be good for 390km of range and a 0-100 time of 9.7 seconds.

Going up the range yields a more powerful 201hp electric motor powered by an 82 kWh battery pack that can drive either just the rear wheels or all four wheels. This powertrain combination allows the Enyak iV to have a 480km range for the four-wheel-drive variant and a 510km range for the rear-wheel-drive models.

Bermaz should also introduce the Skoda ENYAQ COUPÉ RS iV which is the brand's first all-electric member of the sporty RS family. While the roofline gently slopes towards the rear from the B-pillar, this new coupé offers plenty of space in the rear and a boot capacity of 570L.

Just like in the ENYAQ iV, the classic trim levels for the interior have been replaced with the Design Selections. There is a choice of two battery sizes, rear- or all-wheel drive, and four power variants with outputs ranging from 132 kW to 220 kW (RS variant).

The outstanding drag coefficient (cd) of 0.234 is even better than that of the ENYAQ iV and, depending on the specification, enables a range of more than 540km in the WLTP cycle.

The ENYAQ COUPÉ RS iV is priced from RM285,000 in Europe and its landed price here in Malaysia should be RM325,000 putting it right against the BMW iX.

Also Read: Mercedes-Benz EQS launch in Malaysia expected soon