Skoda Yeti facelift spotted in China yet again, clear spyshots uploaded

23/05/2013 - 14:59 | Skoda Yeti, Skoda, Renderings | Anjan Ravi

The Skoda Yeti is due to receive a facelift and as regular Indian Autos Blog readers would know, the facelifted Yeti is undergoing testing in China.

2014 Skoda Yeti rear spied — The testers have creatively camouflaged the car's rear to resemble a Vitara.

At first glance this may appear to be a Maruti Grand Vitara, but we assure you it isn't. A clever Skoda is in the mood for some pranks. You will see that the bootlid handle is actually a sticker to throw spies with itchy trigger fingers out of focus!

2014 Skoda Yeti spare wheel spied — Note the bootlid handle is a sticker! The 'Suzuk' badge is a bluff. You can also see that the tail light has been carefully taped to impersonate the Grand Vitara's. The beam to swing the spare wheel away is seen in this image.

That's not the only thing. If you take a look at these images, you'll find that the tail lamp of the Yeti has been cellotaped in places so that it resembles a Grand Vitara. Even the C pillar gets the camouflage with body color to throw us off guard. Skoda sure is very secretive about the refreshed Yeti.

2014 Skoda Yeti spied — The C pillar has been taped in body color. Otherwise there is no other significant change to the side profile of the car.

A main reason for these smoke screens could be to hide Skoda trying on a spare wheel on the tail gate. This could be a major change Skoda is working on and would reflect on the future markets of this model and the markets that have shaped the facelift.

If they go through with the external spare wheel design, the Europeans are not going to be all that happy as they find an exposed spare wheel 'offensively bold' according to a leading market analyst we spoke to recently. On the other hand, the Chinese (which is Skoda's biggest growth market) and us Indians are going to love it.

2014 Skoda Yeti tail light spied — Number plate enclosure will be moved to the bumper if the spare wheel takes its place.

In which case, Skoda would have to develop a mechanical arm that would enable the user to swing the spare wheel away and then lift the hatch. As an after thought, this was done by VW for the Brazilian CrossFox and gave them more customers.

2014 Skoda Yeti facelift testing in China — Expect significant changes to the front of the car with inspiration from the VisionD and MissionL Concepts.

Another consequence of the external spare wheel is that the rear number plate has to move to the bumper. Apart from these speculative changes, Skoda is most certainly changing the headlamps and the grill of the Yeti to make it look inline with new family members like the 2013 Octavia and Rapid.

[Image credit - News.chefu.com.cn]

[Image credit for Yeti facelift front fascia - Auto.Sohu.com]