Volkswagen ID.2-based supermini could spawn a hot RS version, if Skoda can make a credible case
Skoda has kept its sporty RS badge alive in recent years on the Kodiaq SUV and Enyaq electric crossover, but there hasn’t been much to entice customers lower down the market, as the old Fabia RS once did.
That could soon change, as Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer has hinted that vRS models are still part of the brand’s future – including Skoda’s version of VW’s upcoming compact ID.2 GTI.
“Of course we are contemplating doing that,” Zellmer told our sister title, Auto Express, adding that the RS brand would be considered on all Skoda’s future models.
“If the technology is good enough to call it an RS, then there’s a high likelihood of us bringing an RS version” said Zellmer.
While Volkswagen’s ID.2 will take the shape of a Polo-style compact hatchback, Skoda’s entry-level EV is instead more likely to be a compact crossover, similar to the existing Kamiq. Our rendering shows how a RS version might look, incorporating sporty details and brightly-coloured paintwork, much like the larger Enyaq iV RS.
“It’s important to stay truthful and credible to bring an RS,” Zellmer said, so any future model would have to justify itself with “a little bit more power, a little bit sharper in terms of its appearance, [and a] different interior.”
It should also be a lot cheaper than any current RS model. Zellmer says the non-RS model of the upcoming compact car is targeting a 25,000 Euro price tag (around $42,000), so a sporty version should still be well under $60,000.
The small Skoda will be built alongside the ID.2, and its Spanish sibling, Cupra’s UrbanRebel, at the latter’s factory in Martorell, near Barcelona, and is expected to make its debut in 2025 – and if a RS is on the way, we’d expect to spy it testing long before then.