Autocar India, in collaboration with Skoda India, has completed the Pune-to-Prague (P2P) road trip in the Kylaq compact SUV. This is one of the longest overland expeditions ever undertaken by a made-in-India passenger vehicle, with the Kylaq covering 19,351km over a span of 70 days.
As the name suggests, P2P began at the Skoda Auto Volkswagen India manufacturing facility in Pune, and concluded in Prague – the home of the Czech carmaker – spanning two continents and 13 countries along the way.
Skoda Kylaq proves its engineering mettle in P2P
During the P2P road trip, the Kylaq experienced a smorgasbord of terrains and climates. Starting in Pune, the compact SUV travelled through Mumbai, Vadodara, Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow, and Gorakhpur before crossing into Nepal. The journey then continued across the Tibetan Plateau in China, the ancient Silk Road through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, before heading into Georgia, Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia, eventually concluding in Prague.
Throughout the drive, the Kylaq encountered altitudes ranging from -154 metres to 5,364 metres above sea level, while temperatures varied between -12 deg-C and 43 deg-C. The Kylaq also tackled mountain passes, high-altitude plateaus, sweeping long-distance highways, and historic trade routes, exposing the compact SUV to diverse road, weather, and driving conditions. At the end, the Kylaq finished the journey with no issues – not even a puncture or a scratch.
Highlights during the Kylaq P2P trip included stumbling upon a classic car rally in Bratislava, checking out the Transylvanian Bran Castle in Bucharest, witnessing glowing hot air balloons at the crack of dawn in Cappadocia, crossing the Bosphorus bridge that connects Asia and Europe, barrelling down the arrow-straight roads of Kazakhstan, visiting the 17th-century Potala Palace in China, and so much more.
Commenting on the achievement, Ashish Gupta, Brand Director of Skoda India, said that the Kylaq P2P was a "powerful demonstration of what Indian engineering and manufacturing can achieve on the global stage."
Uday Singh
Dipan Sur
Dhruv Dhaka
Viraaj Bhatnagar
