The Škoda Yeti | Why this compact SUV failed in India

Famous words are floating all around, German Engineering. Yes! indeed the Germans are good with their work, especially in automobiles. Some of those automobile brands made it to India one being Skoda. Well, for those who do not know Skoda is a German-owned Czech automaker.  Skoda brought many cars into our domestic market and most of them exceeded the expectations. One such compact SUV or rather a car-like SUV is the ‘Yeti’. The car was one of the first amongst the good compact SUV on offer. Yet the sales say a different thing. Why did Yeti fail? Before we answer the questions lets dive into some interesting facts.

Skoda Yeti | 2010

This is the time when the domestic automotive sector was setting its firm foot in the Indian economy. Many cars were introduced loaded with more features and more tech for the customers.

Among the vehicles on road, SUVs were more preferred over any other. Here is when the Skoda enters the market with another vehicle the compact SUV ‘Yeti’. This small SUV sat between the low priced compact SUVs and the premium SUV from other German brands.

In terms of price, the car was offered at a slight premium than what people would pay. Still, the company packed the car with many goodies like cute yet distinctive looks, spacious cabin, fair list of features and a decent engine.

First Facelift | 2014

Skoda Yeti, though feature-loaded had a couple of features missing, This is where Skoda updated the SUV with new tech, new more elegant looks, and even better cabin. A new petrol engine and an automatic transmission were expected but they never made it to India.

The more distinctive changes were on the inside and the front. On the outside, Yeti got new single headlight assembly instead of quad headlight setup with Xenon projector headlamps. Besides, the car got a new front number with integrated fog lights and cornering lights.

Stepping on the inside, the car finally got modern interiors, which included a touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth and other connectivities, steering mounted controls, and better instrument cluster to tell a whole lot of information.

Powertrain and Transmission

Sadly the car came with only one engine option. The motor was a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine available in two sets of tunes.

• One for the 4X4 variant, which was capable of producing 138hp of power and 320Nm of peak torque.
• The engine in 4X2 version produced 107hp and about 250Nm of peak torque.
• Both of the engines were mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, which had slick shifts.

Also Read: Toyota Fortuner | The Undisputed King of the SUVs

Now coming back to the question.

Why was Yeti not famous?

Skoda Yeti was in its own league and there was not straight competition. In spite of many features and the build quality, it was still a premium over its rivals which were either a class above or below. People thought it was convenient to spend a bit more to get the best in class rather get the small SUV, a bit laggy, and lacked a few of features. Though it offered 4X4, the dynamics of the vehicle said the opposite. As the suspension was on the firmer side, which filtered a lot of movement inside the cabin. Alas in 2017 Skoda globally stopped the production of the compact SUV ‘Yeti’.

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