By Skoda India officially launched the much-awaited BS6 variant of Rapid in May at an introductory price of Rs. 7.45 lakh (Ex-Showroom). The entry-level Rider variant comes with essential features for customers like four-door power windows, automatic climate control, 2-din music system with Bluetooth connectivity, parking sensors, dual-airbag, ABS with EBD, tinted glass and many more. The price of Rider variant helped it to under-cut many compact sedans and premium hatchbacks.
The demand for Rider was really high and according to Skoda, the base variant accounted for more than 30 per cent of sales. But the company had to stop taking bookings for the Rider variant due to the high demand. In some cities, the waiting period for Rider variant is above one month but other variants were readily available. According to reports, the company is expected to re-open bookings for the entry-level variant soon.
We are expecting Skoda to increase the price slightly as they already mentioned that price was introductory. The company is also planning to introduce a new Rider Plus variant, which will be positioned just above the Rider variant as the ambition variant current comes at Rs. 9.99 lakh. This new variant comes with features like alloy wheels, LED DRLs and more exterior colour options as Rider is offered with just two colour options.
Even though the company launched the automatic variant of Rapid, it is still not available but it will be launched sometime next month as the production of automatic will commence later this month. The BS6 variant of Rapid ditches earlier petrol and diesel engines as the new model comes with a 1.0 L turbo petrol engine producing 110 hp of power. This engine is offered with manual transmission too. Soon, we will bring you a detailed review of the updated Skoda Rapid.
