Exclusive: new-generation Skoda Karoq on the cards with hybrid power

Auto Express has learned that a new generation of the hugely popular Skoda Karoq mid-size SUV could be on its way, as part of the Czech brand’s plan to provide customers with a strong selection of combustion and electric cars for as long as possible. 

There’s only been one iteration of the Karoq so far, which was launched close to a decade ago in 2017. Yet it remains one of Skoda’s biggest-selling cars worldwide, with more than 100,000 examples sold in 2025 alone – and right now you can save more than £3,000 on your own through the Auto Express Buy A Car service. 

Last year, though, the Karoq was massively outsold by key rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage in the UK, so it’s about time a new model arrived to try and level the playing field.

“It certainly makes sense to have a new generation of Karoq,” Skoda’s head of sales and marketing, Martin Jahn, told Auto Express. He also praised the current car’s success despite its age, adding: “We will keep our ICE range as fresh as possible, especially in the Karoq and Octavia class, which is basically the bread and butter for us.”

A next-generation Karoq would use the same MQB platform that the latest Skoda Kodiaq and Superb sit on. “MQB is still fantastic,” said Jahn, “I don't think that there is anything better on the market and I don’t see any other competitor bringing anything new and better in the ICE world.”

Hybrid technology for cars on the MQB platform has advanced significantly in recent years, and a new Karoq would almost certainly feature the brand-new full-hybrid technology that parent company Volkswagen is introducing later this year in the Mk2 T-Roc. 

Making this more likely is the fact that – as Skoda’s head of technical development Johannes Neft revealed to us – the Octavia is set to receive this full-hybrid set-up in the future, while a plug-in hybrid version will also return. Meanwhile, Jahn alluded to Skoda’s smaller models based on the MQB-A0 platform, such as the Fabia and Kamiq, also being in line for hybrid tech, just as the VW Polo is.

However, despite the current Karoq’s success, not to mention the popularity of mid-size SUVs, plans for a next-generation model hinge on the EU’s forthcoming regulations for emissions. Jahn said: “We are still waiting for the new rules for CO2, what happens after 2035, and that will basically determine how much we will invest into the combustion-engine cars.”

He added: “At the end of the day we will have to wait as long as it takes them to make a decision, because you can take a risk and you can make a decision, but you know that the car industry is very capital intensive. And when we make a decision to invest in a model line or in a new factory, it's a lot of money for a long time.

“So we are trying to dance around and move the decisions. But from the point of view of the automotive industry, we do need the decision by the end of this year. Then it's still doable. If it's longer than the end of this year, then it will be very problematic.”

Whatever the legislation demands, Skoda’s sales boss did say: “We will run them [combustion-engined cars] as long as the customers want them, as long as it's legally possible and as long as it's financially viable for us.”

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