Despite a plethora of rival brands offering support for connected services in their cars, Skoda says it isn’t focused on following suit locally, where for now its customers will continue to rely only on smartphone connectivity.
Generally speaking, connected services is commonly associated with electric vehicles (EVs) but allows any vehicle to communicate with other devices. This allows live in-built GPS, smartphones to be used as access keys, remote start and stop, vehicle system monitoring and tracking, remote climate control, over-the-air software updates – among other functions.
As CarExpert commenters have noted with our recent Skoda reviews, the lack of connected services for the Czech brand’s newest Elroq and Enyaq electric SUVs is a major omission, especially in the context of rivals from Tesla and Kia.
“Connected services status, I would say, is the same as it was in the previous generation. That means the cars are not connected in the way you know,” Skoda Australia director Lucie Kuhn told CarExpert at the launch of the facelifted Enyaq.
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“But it offers a mirror link, so Apple CarPlay and Android [Auto], that basically offers most of the connected services via smartphone. That’s not really a dealbreaker.”
Rubbing salt into the wounds for many Skoda buyers is the fact the Volkswagen Group brand offers connected services in Europe, where it’s known as Skoda Connect.
There, owners have greater control over Skoda’s ‘Laura’ voice control system, and can also receive live traffic updates, map programming, and weather reports. They can also program personalised settings in different cars, monitor their car’s mechanical health, and keep track of other vehicle functions using the MySkoda smartphone app.
These are just a handful of the functions available overseas, where Skoda’s European site details a massive list of different options available via Skoda Connect.
Other Volkswagen Group brands have made more progress with offering connected services Down Under.
The ID. Buzz electric people mover was the first Volkswagen model to receive a third-party connected services system in Australia in late 2024, while Cupra maintains it’s “pushing really hard” for connected services in its cars locally.
Still, Skoda Australia head of marketing and product Kieran Merrigan echoed Ms Kuhn’s sentiment, saying that drivers with access to connected services don’t always make full use of their car’s capabilities.
“It doesn’t need to be a dealbreaker – it’s interesting to drive past many Teslas and watch the phone mounted to the windscreen,” he told CarExpert.
“The connected services are something that, of course, is a work in progress. It’s available in Europe, not available here, but we would like it. It’s just something that’s not in the immediate future.”
He added that while demand for connected services varies between individual customers, EV customers were generally more interested in buying vehicles that support such functionality.
“I think we’ve seen it with the early adopters of the electric [vehicles], absolutely, with the high tech,” he said.
“But as you see with our product, to transfer from a standard ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicle into an electric vehicle, the Elroq and Enyaq do that quite nicely without huge changes in not just exterior design, but internally.
“You’ve got an instrument display still, you’ve got easy infotainment. All those things are still quite natural, especially to someone coming out of a Skoda or a Volkswagen product as well.”
MORE: Volkswagen’s connected services finally arriving in Australia
MORE: Cupra “pushing really hard” for connected services in Australia
