The new Skoda Fabia has been spotted testing for the first time ahead of UK sales at the start of next year. The new Fabia is expected to make its world debut at the Paris motor show in October.
The new Fabia will sit on a heavily re-engineered version of the platform used beneath the current car, rather than adopt the shortened version of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform known as MQB-A being prepared for the next-gen VW Volkswagen Polo.
The current platform is being kept and updated to keep the Fabia as VW Group’s entry-level supermini, and ensure economy of scale as the modified structure is already being used beneath the Skoda Rapid and Seat Toledo models, and has just been extensively updated again for the facelifted VW Polo.
As these spy pictures reveal, the new Fabia is similar in length to today’s four-metre-long model but adopts a longer wheelbase and a small increase in width to improve cabin space and load capacity.
Skoda says that while not wanting to alienate traditional Fabia buyers, the new car will be given fresh appeal in its styling and approach. Skoda boss Winfried Vahland previously told Autocar that the new car will "major on features like connectivity, to give it a more youthful appeal".
As such Skoda designers have been briefed to give the Fabia a less dowdy appearance and more customisable options in its next-generation, although the look of the new car won’t deviate much from the Rapid and Octavia models, as the mule caught testing at the Nurburgring reveals.
Likely engine options include a pair of 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre TSI petrols, and a 1.6-litre diesel. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine found in the Skoda Citigo could also be offered in the supermini.
The firm has already confirmed that the vRS model will not be making an appearance in the next-generation Fabia as the current car had not been a commercial success.
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Wait and see it first
Good to hear .....
Wide
Well I think it looks like the original Fabia
I owned the original model, and quite fancied a vRS, but I'm not at all interested in the current one. So this could be a return to form.