Rebadging is not a new concept; it prevails outside India over a long period for different brands under the same group to share the same car and, after minor cosmetic changes and a new badge, market them separately. It’s crucial way for an automaker to save money by spreading development and engineering costs over a larger number of vehicles. In short, the outcome of this ’cut, copy, paste’ job is Skoda’s Rapid.

So, under the skin of Skoda Rapid is a Volkswagen Vento. This, of course, means it has the same long 2552mm wheelbase, the same 1699mm width and the same widened front and rear track. The Rapid, however, is marginally longer than the Vento, but that’s just down to the larger nose of the Skoda. It has also got the same suspension that Skoda uses along with the similar brakes and steering system. Skoda however has tuned each of these components a bit differently which makes this car drive quite differently from the Vento. The Rapid, therefore, may look at first like a Vento with a Fabia nose stuck on it. The Rapid comes in three variants- Active, Ambition and Elegance. The Active gets body-colored bumpers, central locking, power window and air- conditioning. The Ambition adds ABS, driver airbag, remote locking and driver’s seat height adjustment. The Elegance has alloy wheels, climate control, a CD player with auxin, electrically adjustable mirrors and a front passenger airbag.

Skoda has made the petrol version better to drive. The 1.6 MPfi engine isn’t the most modern motor around and doesn’t feel as light and responsive as some of the Japanese units. The Rapid is considerably quicker than the Vento in a straight line with 100kph reached approximately one second quicker. Apart from this, VW has always made some of the nicest manual gearboxes, and this one is no different. It is light to use, the throw is short and this makes it one of the slickest boxes around. Despite this, it has got stretched wheelbase which indeed means that the chassis is not as stiff as it could have been; the heavy diesel in the nose causes a weight imbalance and relatively basic hatchback-spec suspension. Also, Rapid lacks that big spike in power we get on the diesel Vento, and this makes it even nicer in traffic. And when it comes to fuel economy, it might not be class-leading but it’s more than acceptable. The diesel delivers 13.5kpl in the city and 17.6kpl on the highway whereas the petrol delivers 9.4kpl and 15.1kpl respectively. Therefore with a roller coaster ride, it would be interesting to see if customers are finding this ’cut, copy and paste’ job as a way of keeping new model prices low or they will appreciate and accept the innovation with the given prices.

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