Volkswagen’s Skoda Subsidiary Puts New Model on Hold

VIENNA – Skoda, Volkswagen Group’s Czech Republic-based subsidiary, has put on hold or even may have canceled the second-generation Skoda Roomster, local media report.

Supplier sources confirm the project has been halted but say it may resume in summer 2016.

It is not clear whether the Roomster issue is connected to Volkswagen’s diesel-engine-emissions scandal. “We will publish more information about the successor to the Skoda Roomster later,” Skoda says in a statement.

Production of the first-generation Roomster multipurpose vehicle was phased out last spring at Skoda’s plant in Kvasiny.

The new Roomster, which was expected to be unveiled in coming weeks, is not a standalone model. It is a rebadged version of the VW Caddy manufactured at Volkswagen’s plant in Poznan, Poland. That factory is the sole source of the VW Caddy and Caddy Maxi in both car and light-commercial-vehicle versions.

The Poznan facility launched the fourth-generation Caddy earlier this year and had manufactured some Roomster prototypes.