This may be the most perfectly timed launch of a new car in the history of the car in Australia.
As Australian motorists start to feel the squeeze from rising fuel prices and start to give electric vehicles a closer look, one of Europe’s most underrated brands has decided to launch arguably the best value electric vehicle in Australia.
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The Skoda Elroq Select 60 is the Volkswagen-owned Czech brand’s new entry-level model, with an asking price of $49,990 drive-away. That’s not just a good price for a European EV, that’s cheaper than many Chinese rivals, giving Europe, and the would-be motoring establishment, its best chance to push back against the surging popularity of Chinese brands.
The likes of BYD, GWM, Chery and MG have been the fastest-growing car companies in the Australian market, rapidly gaining so much share of the market that they are already among the best-selling brands in the first few months of 2026. That success marks an incredibly fast rise up the sales charts for those Chinese brands, one the team at Skoda will be looking at with a combination of jealousy and shock. Skoda has been in Australia since 2007 and is yet to achieve such dizzying heights despite having the back-up of industry behemoth, Volkswagen, as its parent company.
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Timing is everything in business. Launching the right product at the perfect time is the key to sales success and that is what the Chinese brands have benefited from. They arrived in Australia in the aftermath of the global pandemic, as European and other Asian brands were recovering and had raised prices out of the reach of many Australians.
The Chinese brands arrived with models much cheaper than their competition and Australian customers have clearly been grateful for these new additions and more obtainable prices.
Skoda is looking to muscle its way into this contest with the Elroq Select 60, which joins the wider range that launched here late in 2025. To achieve its attention-grabbing price Skoda
has had to cut back on some of the niceties in the more expensive models, but the Select 60 is hardly what we might have once called a “poverty pack”.
It still comes equipped with a digital instrument panel, a 13-inch touchscreen for the multimedia system, 19-inch alloy wheels and heated seats. Plus, it’s all packaged up in a very stylish and well-thought out interior that feels spacious for what is a mid-size SUV.
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To be clear, the Elroq is not the cheapest electric SUV you can buy today, the $40,990 Geely
EX5 and $45,888 Leapmotor C10 are more affordable, but frankly both are a step behind the
Skoda in design and driving enjoyment. However, the new Elroq is significantly cheaper than the most popular electric SUVs, the Chinese-made Tesla Model Y, which starts at $58,900, and the BYD Sealion 7 is priced from $54,990. But in both those cases, you have to pay for the on-road costs, such as registration, so they will cost thousands more to drive off the dealership, further enhancing the Skoda’s price advantage.
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With a 110kW electric motor, mounted at the rear and driving the rear-wheels, the Elroq Select 60 is a genuine pleasure to drive. This does not feel like some built-to-a-price, modern, electric SUV that makes you feel like you’re driving a glorified golf cart every time you get behind the wheel.
Which is, to be blunt, a very big bonus for what would otherwise be a very appealing vehicle
based purely on its price and specification. Add to that a claimed 395km driving range, which is adequate for the majority of urban dwellers that will make up the target audience for this kind of electric car, and the Elroq makes a strong case for itself.
So, with the gradual acceptance of electric cars likely to be accelerated by the rising cost of fuel, Skoda could not have picked a better time to launch the Elroq Select 60.
SKODA ELROQ
PRICE: $49,990 drive-away
MOTOR: Rear electric, 110kW and 310Nm
WARRANTY: 7-year, unlimited km
RANGE: 395km
SPARE: Repair kit
BOOT: 470 litres
