Skoda Auto India announced today that the company will launch the Slavia compact sedan in March this year. The car made its global debut in November last year. The new Slavia officially replaces the Rapid sedan in India's compact sedan space, and it's built on the company's localised MQB-A0-IN platform. It is part of the four new products the company plans to launch with Volkswagen, under the India 2.0 strategy. In fact, the car is the first sedan to be built on the new platform, and with the new Slavia, the carmaker aims to further expand its sedan legacy in India. The car will be offered in 3 variants - Active, Ambition, and Style and bookings for the Slavia have already begun in November and that will give the company a clear idea about how the car will be received in the country.
The Skoda Slavia replaces the Rapid in the company's line-up
Visually, the Skoda Slavia is a 5-door sedan that comes with a coupe-like roofline. The car measures 4,541 mm, while its width stands at 1,752 mm. The Slavia is also 1,487 mm tall, and it comes with a wheelbase of 2,651 mm. The car has the longest wheelbase in this class and Skoda says that it's even bigger than the first-gen Octavia sedan. Visual cues include the signature butterfly grille with vertical slats and thick chrome borders, flanked by sleek LED headlamps with LED DRLs, and sporty multi-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels. The car also gets an aggressive-looking bumper with a wide mesh-pattern grille for the airdam. At the rear, the Slavia gets signature C-shaped LED taillamps which are divided into two parts, and further extend into the boot lid.
The cabin of the Slavia is very spacious as well and will come loaded with features
The Slavia will share its powertrains with the Skoda Kushaq. This means, the Slavia will get the same 1.0-litre TSI three-cylinder engine and the 1.5-litre four-cylinder TSI unit, and both are turbocharged petrol motors. The former makes 113 bhp and 175 Nm of peak torque, and it comes mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and an optional 6-speed automatic torque converter. The bigger 1.5-litre motor makes 148 bhp and 250 Nm of peak torque and comes mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and a 7-speed DSG automatic unit.
