► Customers shouldn’t have to own an EV yet, says Skoda CEO
► Skoda achieves price parity between Elroq and Karoq
► Petrol Skoda Karoq to continue for at least two more years
Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer has spoken openly about car manufacturers only being able to do so much to tempt buyers into electric cars – and legislators need to do more to encourage uptake.
Speaking to CAR at the reveal of the Skoda Elroq, the brand’s new compact electric SUV, Zellmer said while the firm would continue to increase its electric offering, Skoda needed to be ‘flexible and cater to what customers actually want’.
‘Our task is to provide products like the Elroq to make EVs as attractive as possible, and now let’s see what legislation comes up with. We can’t change a customer’s sentiment, we can’t provide all the charging infrastructure, and we can’t provide electricity prices that favour an electric car versus an ICE car.
‘It’s something that encompasses a lot more than just car manufacturers, and this is why we are as aggressive as we are with the Elroq as we want to meet the CO2 limits and not exceed them, and now let’s see what consumers do going forward.’
The CEO’s comments were in relation to the European Union’s fleet-wide emissions targets, which are becoming more stringent in 2025. The EU is taking a different stance to the UK’s zero-emissions mandate, where a certain percentage of all cars sold need to produce no tailpipe emissions otherwise they face steep fines, but can be delayed in order to meet them.
It was initially thought that the Elroq would replace the similarly-sized Karoq in Skoda’s line-up, but the two cars will now co-exist with similar dimensions, interior space and – most importantly – price. Across Europe the Karoq and Elroq will cost almost the same, and in the UK, the Elroq’s £31,500 starting price will ‘get within £200’ of a petrol Karoq, according to a spokesperson.
It makes the Elroq one of the cheapest electric SUVs in its class, undercutting the new Kia EV3 and Renault Scenic.
‘We are building on [Skoda’s] affordability factor. The price of the Elroq is an aggressive way of showing we can build and offer a car that’s on a high level with its ICE brother or sister car. We wanted to show it’s doable,’ said Zellmer.
‘We really want to offer cars that consumers opt in for, and it will be interesting to see how many people gravitate towards the Elroq and how many stay with the Karoq.’
The current-generation Karoq has been around since late 2017 and is now one of the oldest models in its segment, yet remains one of its most popular cars.
‘At the end of the day, consumers decide what they want to do with their money and we want to keep all doors open. The trend in the European Union at the moment is not showing the growth of BEV that we originally forecast. So we need to be flexible and cater to what customers actually want.’
Zellmer said they have ‘two to three years’ to see how the current Karoq is doing and they will then decide to do ‘another refresh or not’.
‘But we want to keep that up to customers to signal what their preference is and not what we think they should drive.’
Zellmer showed support for the UK’s ‘ZEV mandate’, adding that Skoda supported a ‘window of three years’ to meet targets, whereas they must be met in the EU by the end of December 2025.
‘It’s going to be the most fierce environment for EVs in the next year and that’s not healthy. It will destroy residuals, it will destroy customer sentiments in terms of electric car cost, because they will cost something completely different in 2026.
‘We need to try and meet a deadline that reflects what consumers really want at the minute.’