• Impressively spacious interior despite compact size
• Plenty of room for four adults, plus well-shaped boot
• Light and bright cabin with good visibility

Skoda has become known for its impressive practicality and the Kamiq continues this trend. It’s one of the most versatile small SUVs you can buy. While the VW T-Cross offers generous interior accommodation, the Kamiq beats it and all of its competitors.

You don’t sit quite as high up as in the VW, but the Skoda is still taller than a regular hatchback. You sit 40mm higher up than you do in the Scala hatchback, and the Kamiq is a very spacious car inside, despite its compact exterior dimensions, with plenty of head, knee and foot space for all passengers.

Rear seat space is particularly impressive. Not only is there plentiful head room, leg room is generous even for six footers. In fact, the Kamiq has more space than some SUVs in the class above. Our only complaint is that the relatively narrow cabin makes seating three abreast a bit of a squeeze. That’s no different to most other cars in this class, though.

An optional panoramic sunroof really brightens things up too, spanning nearly the full length of the roof. The sunblind retracts to the front to avoid stealing headroom in the back.

The car’s compact size has its benefits driving around town. Lots of glass means a clear view out around the car, making it easy to judge and easy to park in tight spots and navigate down small side streets. Due to the sloping profile of the car, rear-visibility isn’t great.

The availability of parking sensors and a reversing camera (plus automatic parking) helps out with manoeuvres if you’re not feeling confident. Plus, when you’re in the space, optional door edge protectors like you find on the Kodiaq deploy to prevent damaging the car next to you.

Boot space and storage

In terms of the boot and storage space, the Kamiq impresses. It has 400 litres of boot space available, expanding up to 1,395 litres with the rear seats folded. However, it doesn’t have as much space as a Ford Puma or offer sliding rear seats like the VW T-Cross – although you can get a folding passenger seat for carrying longer items. The boot light also doubles as a removable torch for when you have to sift through your cargo at night. 

The loading lip is nice and low, helped by an available two-level boot floor, and you can even spec an electric tailgate if you fancy some extra convenience. Elsewhere, you can have up to four USB-C ports (adapters for USB-A are available) to keep your devices charged, large door bins offer plenty of storage space and a couple of small areas to store odds and ends up the cubbyhole count.

Safety

• Should prove to be a safe small family car
• Plenty of driver assistance kit available
• Isofix on three passenger seats

The Kamiq received a full five-star rating in the Euro NCAP test. It comes with up to nine airbags, three Isofix points (outer rear seats and front passenger seat), as well as a couple of driver assistance systems. These include Front Assist with pedestrian detection (autonomous emergency braking), lane assist (keeps you in your lane) and multi-collision brake that holds the brakes on if you are rear-ended and prevents you being pushed into another car in front.

You can also add to the kit list with items like adaptive cruise control, blindspot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, while standard-fit LED lights aid vision and visibility at night.

Watch: Skoda Kamiq SUV Euro NCAP crash test video