Skoda Rapid Facelift Launched At Rs 8.35 Lakh

Skoda India has launched the highly-awaited facelift for its smallest sedan offering, the Rapid, today. Launched at a starting price of Rs 8.35 lakh (ex-showroom, Maharashtra) for the base model, the Rapid facelift receives several notable updates. It is the first significant facelift that the car has received in five years. The top-end variant of the new Skoda Rapid has been priced at Rs 12.79 lakh. 

The most notable change is at the front of the car. The front fascia now features a chiselled and sharp look that is in line with the brand’s other models like the Octavia and the Superb. Its new Skoda family grille is now flanked by new angular headlamps that come with projectors and DRLs. The front bumper now has a broader air-dam while the fog lamps are now rectangular and wide. Ahead of the A-pillar, the car follows almost the same form as the current model except for the few changes like the revised rear bumper, new alloy wheels and restyled tail lamps.

Moving to the cabin of the sedan, the design is pretty much the same as the outgoing model. The interiors now sport a dual-tone black and beige treatment instead of the brown and beige combination. On the tech front, carrying the equipment available on the current model forward, the facelifted Rapid sports a touchscreen audio system that was highly missed in the current model. The unit comes with MirrorLink and Bluetooth support, GPS navigation and reverse camera.

Under the hood, the Rapid facelift will continue to be powered by the same petrol and diesel motors. The 1.6-litre petrol pot develops 105PS of max power and 153Nm of peak torque. For the diesel variant, the 1.5-litre oil burner has been updated which now produces 110PS of power and 250Nm of peak torque as compared to 105PS in the current model. Transmission duties are governed by a 5-speed manual gearbox while the higher-spec petrol variant comes with a 6-speed automatic transmission. The top-spec diesel variant gets a 7-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox. 

On the competition front, with the facelift, the Rapid is now a better contender against the likes of the Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the Honda City.