Skoda’s Kamiq is ideal small city car
New features give the car a more modern look with crisp lines, including redesigned front bumpers with wider air intakes to give the small SUV a more off-road, rugged look.
Skoda is currently lying in third position in Ireland's passenger car sales charts, behind leaders Toyota and Volkswagen, a solid achievement by any standards. While Octavia remains the runaway leader model for the brand, Kamiq is making steady progress with 713 units sold this year to date, which represents an 8% increase on its 2025 sales.
The model is the smallest of the Skoda SUVs and is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB A0 modular platform shared with the SEAT Arona and Volkswagen T-Cross, while offering more inside space than both. While it takes styling cues from both Karoq and Kodiaq to ensure a continuity between Skoda’s SUVs, the model has been given a mid-life look to keep it fresh against rivals that include the Volkswagen companion cars as well as MG ZS, Nissan’s Juke, Renault Captur, and the big-selling Toyota Yaris Cross.
New features give the car a more modern look with crisp lines, an upright and larger hexagonal grille, slimmer LED split headlights, redesigned front bumpers with wider air intakes to give the small SUV a more off-road, rugged look. Up to 18-inch wheels, silver lower window trim and roof rails are part of the makeover. The tailgate now displays the Skoda name in block letters instead of the circular Skoda logo.
The car’s compact size and 10m turning circle make it ideal to navigate narrow city streets and car parks. All occupants enjoy a higher driving position than in a standard-sized hatchback, and the car’s higher ground clearance allows a better view of your surroundings.
My review car was in a Graphite Grey exterior colour (€793 extra) which I felt didn’t show the car at its best. Other options are white, orange, blue, red, black exterior colours, all with exotic names.
The interior is well laid out and nicely styled with mid-grey suede trim across the dash as well as some decorative inserts. Nicely patterned front seats in leather/suede upholstery proved really comfy - my seat came with power adjustments and lumbar support, but the co-driver’s seat just had manual adjustments. Front seats can be heated.
The 9.2-inch infotainment touchscreen was absolutely adequate and easy to navigate, but a larger 10.2-inch digital one is optional. The multi-functional, two-spoke leather steering wheel can be heated. An old-type pull-up handbrake reassured me the brake was actually on at a glance when exiting.
Those seated in the rear enjoy very good head and legroom, but the person in the middle seat has to contend with a high tunnel. The middle seat back lowers as an armrest.
Boot space of 400 litres can expand to 1,395 litres with rear seats folded down, and there's a skinny spare wheel, tool kit, and jack stored below the boot floor.
Trims are Essence, Selection+, and the range-topping sportier Monte Carlo. Even the entry-level grade is well specced.
Features include privacy glass, keyless entry, two front and two rear USB-C ports, Hill Hold control, parking sensors, a rear-view camera, front and rear fog lights with cornering lamp, but no blind spot monitor.
Skoda is famous for its Simply Clever features like hidden space in the driver’s door bin for a small umbrella, a small hidden compartment under the co-driver’s seat, a small transparent clip on the windscreen for parking tickets, a removable torch in the boot, and an ice scraper inside the fuel filler cap.
Only one engine size is offered, a 1.0 three-cylinder turbo petrol with 95bhp or 115bhp, the latter being my review car paired with a nice 6-speed manual gearbox, allowing a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.7 seconds, which is perfectly fine for a small city car. Personally, I’d opt for automatic transmission for easier driving in traffic.
Drive modes are Eco, Normal, Sport, and Individual. Skoda claims a combined fuel consumption of 5.4 L/100kms, which is achievable.
With its suite of advanced driver-assistance systems, Kamiq was awarded the maximum 5-star rating for safety by Euro NCAP.
This compact family crossover is a really good everyday car, going about its job in transporting a couple or small family in comfort and safety while also being economical to run.
PRICE: Model price is from €34,170. The total price of my car, including the exterior metallic paint, came to €34,963. Annual road tax is €200.
