Skoda SUV will be launched in 2009

Initial rumors said the future Skoda SUV will be launched in July at the London Motor Show, but Skoda denied those rumors: "Nonsense. This is the year of the Superb," said Skoda spokesman Jaroslav Cerny, referring to the automaker’s launch this summer of its new flagship car.

He also said the SUV will be launched next year, but would not specify a time.

The car will likely be called the Yeti, the name of both concept cars earlier shown by the Czech automaker. "I think we will stay with the name," Skoda head Reinhard Jung told Automotive News Europe in March.

The SUV will be built at Skoda’s Kvasiny site alongside the large Superb and the Roomster medium minivan. The two Kvasiny assembly lines have a total production capacity of 200,000 units.

Skoda will target central Europe with its Yeti and is expected to sell around 50,000 units annually.