What's this then?

This is a dimly-lit look at a new Skoda five-door hatchback, which will be revealed in full later this year, and which will go on sale early in 2019. It's a replacement for the Rapid, but won't apparently be called the Rapid anymore. This new five-door is going to be a lot more sophisticated, so Skoda doubtless wants to put some clear air between it and the bargain-basement Rapid.

It'll use the same 'MQB-A0' platform as the SEAT Ibiza and Arona, and the new VW Polo, and will get the usual Volkswagen Group line-up of petrol and diesel engines, kicking off with the 1.0-litre turbo petrol unit. Want to get a better idea of what it looks like? Have a gander at the Vision RS concept from last week's Paris Motor Show. Bar one or two details, it's the Rapid replacement in all but name.

Neil Briscoe - 9 Oct 2018