It's bigger than before, better-equipped than before but the new Skoda Fabia will remain true to the brand's roots by being significantly cheaper than most of its competition. In fact, the lowest-priced new Fabia, the €13,895 1.0-litre 60hp Active model, is actually cheaper than some smaller city cars.
With the previous two generations of Fabia having sold 3.4-million untis worldwide, the new model comes to the market in December, and will hardly be lacking for customers. In spite of which, Skoda has chosen to kick its range off with that low price tage, dramtically undercutting the cheapest Ford Fiesta or Peugeot 208.
That basic Fabia gets front electric windows, curtain airbags and stop-start but it’s clearly something of a loss leader as there is a significant price walk of €1,000 to the next model, the better-equipped Ambition.
The basic 60hp version uses VW Group’s new 1.0-litre three-cylinder enginer and Skoda claims that it is almost 1-litre per 100km better off in fuel consumption terms and it has dropped two tax bands to A3 from B1.
Speaking in relation to the new Fabia, Raymond Leddy, Head of Marketing & Product, Škoda Ireland said "The Fabia is a completely new car. It is not a facelift but is entirely new inside and out, utilising the latest engines and technologies to provide the best Fabia ever. Our new 1.0-litre, 60bhp petrol unit delivers surprising performance with superior acceleration and economy when compared to the comparable engine offered in the previous model. The Fabia was initially planned for launch in Ireland in early 2015 similar to the UK however we are launching early in December to meet the demands of customers who want to place orders for delivery in January".
