This is the new Skoda Yeti, a faux-4×4 unveiled at the Geneva motor show today. Available with front- or four-wheel drive but in an unassuming hatchback body, the Yeti is the Czech company’s answer to obnoxious SUVs everywhere.
The Skoda Yeti doesn’t look like an SUV – it looks like a jacked-up Roomster!
And remarkably similar to the original 2005 Yeti concept, albeit with regular door handles and a toned-down nose. But yes, the Yeti strongly resembles the Roomster, and is almost exactly the same size as the boxy hatchback, which means lots of practicality – Skoda claims the Yeti’s rear seats can be removed, allowing for a huge 1760-litre load space.
The Yeti is only available with turbocharged four-cylinder engines. The entry-level motor is a 1.2 TSI unit with 103bhp, while there’s also a 1.8 with 158bhp. Customers wanting oil-burning engines are catered for with a 2.0-litre diesel in three states of tune (108, 138 and 168bhp). The 1.2 TSI is front-wheel drive only, the entry-level diesel front or four-wheel drive, and the rest of the engines send power to all four wheels, enough for Skoda to promise ‘outstanding off-road ability’.
British customers will be able to find out whether that’s true when the Yeti goes on sale this autumn, with prices starting from around £13k.
>> What do you think of the Skoda Yeti? Is it worth the wait or should it have never come out of the mountains?