Skoda Australia’s bold EV push revealed
This relatively unknown and underrated car brand is making a fresh play that even its own executives admit is ‘risky’.
If timing is everything, Skoda Australia may have just played a blinder.
The slow-selling Czech brand’s showrooms are soon to be chockers with new EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), just as Australia’s appetite for them accelerates.
Skoda’s all-new Elroq mid-size SUV EV has now arrived to join its Enyaq EV big brother, while plug-in versions of its Kodiaq seven-seater and Superb sedan and wagon are now confirmed for early 2026.
MORE: Starbucks hacker costs Tesla $370m
That’s not all. Hot dual motor RS versions of the two EVs are locked in for 2026, while a new 1.5-litre 110kW four-cylinder mild hybrid petrol engine for Kodiaq, Superb (and potentially smaller offerings like the Kamiq, Karoq and Octavia) also arrives in the first half of next year.
We’re told Skoda’s less economical “normal” petrol engines will remain, meaning a complex array of powertrain choices which could overwhelm dealers, let alone potential customers.
A risky move, perhaps, for a brand that sold only 5000 cars here last year; fewer than even SsangYong managed.
“I think it’s a real risk for us,” said Skoda Australia’s Head of Product & Marketing Kieran Merrigan. “It’s a balance between trying to find options for every consumer, but there’s a risk of being over-complex.”
MORE: New fight breaks out over Aussie carbuyers
Merrigan said Skoda Australia would have to “potentially be brutal” with axing models, variants or drivetrains that weren’t selling well.
“It will be customer led,” he said, while suggesting cars that aren’t shifting from showrooms would have to be retired.
Skoda’s cheapest cars – the Fabia and Scala hatchbacks – are only making small dents in the sales charts, while the brand’s overall numbers fell 37 per cent last year.
Year-to-date in 2025, sales are down a further 27 per cent.
Shifting focus to electrified cars is an obvious roll of the dice – perhaps an essential one – and it’s a huge departure from a range that very recently only consisted of petrols and diesels.
This time last year, Skoda Australia had zero electrified vehicles in its range.
But numbers reveal Aussies want them, despite the doubters.
Australian Automobile Association (AAA) figures show EV and PHEV sales just had a record quarter, with 41,146 Australian sales between April and June this year.
That included 29,244 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 11,902 PHEVs, representing 13 per cent of all new car sales. It was below ten per cent in the same quarter in 2024.
MORE: Huge warning over Musk’s new Aus move
Plug-in hybrid sales have surged in the first half of this year, helping the timing of Skoda’s Kodiaq and Superb PHEV arrivals. Australians have bought twice as many PHEVs in 2025 as they did last year, mainly due to plug-in utes like the BYD Shark.
Last year, Australia’s EV and PHEV sales combined made up over 10 per cent of sales for the first time ever. But that was well behind the global trend of 26 per cent market share for battery-powered cars.
Skoda must also scratch its head why Aussies aren’t embracing its vehicles, while Europe can’t get enough of them.
Last month, Skoda was second only to Volkswagen in total European sales – ahead of Toyota and BMW.
Meanwhile, the Czech-built Elroq that’s just arrived in Australian showrooms (from $59,990 drive-away) was Europe’s best-selling EV in July, beating even the mighty Tesla Model Y.
Skoda will also introduce an electric city SUV called Epiq in Australia in 2027, followed by a fully electric Vision 7S seven-seat large SUV the same year.
