Škoda unveils sketch of new-generation Fabia
The Czech-based carmaker Škoda Auto has unveiled a sketch of its third -generation Fabia model. The new hatchback will be wider and lower, with sharply styled panels. Production is set to start at Škoda’s plant in Mladá Boleslav later this summer, and the model will officially be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October.
The third-generation Fabia model is also the first series production vehicle with elements from the Škoda VisionC show car, revealed in February as a concept for its planned five-door model due in 2016.
The design of the new model was also inspired by the car producer’s racing division, Škoda Motorsport. That gives the new Škoda more dynamics, passion and emotion, according to the firm.
“Unlike its previous generations, the new Fabia is not held back by demands for a family car. It can be bolder and trendier. It can afford to care less about its trunk’s volume, and show off its dynamics instead,” Radek Laube of the Czech Auto Design & Styling magazine told the news agency ČTK.
The more dynamic Fabia will reportedly feature a new engine range with two petrol units; in some international markets, the car will be powered by an all-aluminium, 1.4-litre diesel engine.
The new car is part of the Škoda’s “model offensive” which the producer hopes will increase its global annual sales to 1.5 million cars. In May, the production of the CNG-powered Octavia G Tec was introduced as part of the campaign which will also see a new model of Octavia Scout enter the market in August. A new seven-seat SUV model, Škoda Snowman should be launched in 2016.
In the first three months of this year, Škoda Auto sold 522,500 cars which was 12.5 percent more than in the same period last year. Fabia was Škoda’s best-selling model in 2013, with more than 200,000 of them sold around the globe.
