Škoda recently unveiled the Yeti post its facelift, and with a host of cosmetic updates and a few mechanical ones. We drove it recently
Story: Gaurav Nagpal
Photography: Rommel Albuquerque
Czech flavour came to India’s compact SUV market in 2010, with Škoda launching the Yeti. The car soon attracted rave reviews for its build quality, driveability, and off-road competence. Numbers, however, remained a problem, with the less-than-stellar after-sales reputation playing no small part.
Cut to 2014, and Škoda have unveiled the “new” Yeti with a facelift. Can it climb to the top of the pile? We drove the 140-PS 4×4 Elegance variant in the cool climes of Srinagar in an attempt to find out.
Škoda switched to a sharper “family look” with the new Octavia, and the Yeti follows suit, thus losing its distinguishing look but bearing a new design that does grow on you. Trim levels are down from two each for the 110 and 140 PS variants to just an Elegance trim for both.
The rounded headlamps, fog-lamps and bumper are out; in come an edgier and sharper hood, bumper (which now houses the new fog-lamps) and air intake, a new elongated all-chrome grille with the new logo, and new bi-xenon “follow-me-home” headlamps with LED daytime running lights (DRL). The Yeti is now available in 11 pre-selected dual-colour combinations for the body, with a choice from among seven body colours and three roof colours.
The roof-rails, ORVM, and door moulding now receive silver treatment, with the ORVM now electronically foldable. The new classy 16” “Forest” alloy wheels are ensconced in large, sharper wheel-arches. At the rear, the new C-shaped LED tail-lamps occupy pride of place on either side of the edgy tailgate, and the new bumper houses the re-designed reflectors.
