Skoda Rolls Out New Rapid Small Sedan in India [with Video]

In the next step towards its bold goal of increasing Skoda's worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2018, the Volkswagen Group revealed a new entry-level Skoda sedan named Rapid at its Pune plant in western India on Sunday.

Although it had been suggested that the Rapide may be the production version of Skoda's MissionL concept that was show in Frankfurt last month, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Instead, the Rapid, which borrows its name from the rear-engine Skoda coupe of the mid-late 1980s, is a rebadged version of the Indian market VW Vento, otherwise known as the Polo sedan.

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Czech Designer Imagines a Skoda WRC Racecar Based on the Vision D Concept

Skoda is a brand with a long tradition in motorsports and this has inspired Czech designer Pavel Hruby to draw a study of a modern Skoda world rally car. Hruby took inspiration from the Skoda Vision D Concept shown by the Czech brand at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

The VW Group’s subsidiary was not involved in any way in this project, with the sketch having been commissioned by Czech Magazine AutoDesign&Styling. The Skoda Vision WRC project shows Hruby's ideas of what a new rally model from the Czech automaker could look like. Based on the new design language launched by the Vision D concept, the rally car features the new corporate grille, underlined by a massive air intake in the lower part of the bumper.

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VIDEO: Meet the Bad Boy Builders of Skoda’s Mean Green Fabia vRS

After focusing on the 'Mean Green' machine first, Skoda has now released a follow-up video clip documenting the fictional bad boy crew that builds the Fabia vRS hot-hatch in the firm's latest commercial on the car for the United Kingdom. The new campaign takes a darker but equally humorous twist on the Fabia’s ‘Made of Lovely Stuff’ proposition which was made famous by the 2007 Fabia ‘Cake’ commercial. You can watch the new ad in the video after the jump.

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VIDEO: Skoda Fabia vRS Hot Hatch Shows its "Meaner" side in New TV Ad

As Skoda is enjoying its best year on record, the VW Group-owned company wants to build on the momentum by launching a new TV campaign for the Fabia vRS hot hatch. The new ad, which is meant to show the darker side of the 180-horsepower-strong hatch, features the "Made from Meaner Stuff" tagline. There will be two versions of the TV commercial, a short 30 second ad and an uncut, 60 second advert.

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VIDEO: Meet the 2009 Skoda Octavia RS Facelift

You've read the details, seen the photos, time to watch Skoda's facelifted hot Octavia RS in a bit of video action. Like its forerunner, the sportiest model of the Octavia range offers buyers the choice of two turbocharged four-cylinder engines, a 2.0-liter TSI gasoline unit with 200HP that averages 7.5lt/100km (31.4mpg US or 37.7mpg UK) and a 2.0-liter TDI diesel with a combined consumption of 5.7lt/100km (41.3mpg US or 49.6mpg UK). Both engines are hooked up to a six-speed twin-clutch DSG transmission. -Thanks for the tip Bert!

VIDEO: Skoda Yeti SUV Filmed in Norway

Volkswagen Group owned Skoda has published a new video of its first-ever dedicated proposal in the compact crossover segment, the Yeti, filmed during the final-preproduction tests that took place in the area around Oslo, Norway. The vehicles tested in Oslo were a 1.8 TSI petrol and a 2.0 TDI diesel, both 4x4 models.

The very first series-production Yeti, a four-wheel drive model fitted with a 1.8 TSI engine, rolled off Skoda's assembly line at the Kvasiny plant in the Czech Republic on Tuesday 12 May 2009. Sales of Skoda's RAV4 rivaling crossover are set to start across Europe this summer.

Video: 2009 Skoda Octavia Facelift

Unveiled for the first time at the Paris auto show last October, the mildly facelifted Octavia Sedan and Estate models boast a new nose and tail that brings them in line with Czech firm's latest vehicles like the Fabia and Superb. Likewise, the 2009 Octavia's cabin inherits several styling elements from the larger Superb such as the four-spoke steering wheel, the climate controls and the revised trim. Under the sheetmetal, changes include the addition of the new 122HP 1.4 TSI gasoline engine in and the availability of the VW Group's new seven-speed DSG double-clutch gearbox.