Skoda has spent years being admired and under-bought in India — the brand you respected but found a touch too expensive. The Kylaq is the answer to that, a sub-four-metre SUV that starts around eight lakh and asks whether European solidity can survive an aggressively Indian price. Largely, it can.
The first impression is the important one, and the Kylaq nails it. It feels a class above its price the moment you shut the door.
Where the money went
The cabin is the highlight — well-built, sensibly laid out, and free of the flimsiness that creeps into cars at this price. Skoda has clearly protected the things you touch and see every day.
The 1.0 turbo-petrol is willing rather than rapid, but it suits the car’s easy-going nature, and the ride quality carries that trademark Volkswagen-group maturity over broken roads.
It feels like a bigger, pricier car that lost weight, not a cheap car dressed up.
— From the road-test notes
The compromises
You do feel the price in a few places — some hard plastics low down, a features list that trails the flashiest rivals. But nothing feels cheap in the way that matters.
The Kylaq is the most convincing affordable Skoda yet, and quite possibly the one that finally converts all that admiration into sales.