The new Skoda Fabia has been spotted almost completely undisguised months ahead of its official debut at the Paris motor show.
The pictures show a cleaner, more modern design than the current Fabia, inspired by Skoda’s recent Rapid and Octavia models, particularly in its front and rear end designs. There’s a distinctive shoulder line, sleeker roofline, more heavily creased bodywork, and a subtle lip spoiler.
As the pictures reveal, the new Fabia is similar in length to today’s 4m-long model, but it adopts a longer wheelbase and a small increase in width which is set to improve cabin space and load capacity.
Skoda’s new supermini will sit on a heavily re-engineered version of the platform used by the current car, rather than adopt the shortened version of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform, known as MQB-A, which is being prepared for the next generation of the VW Polo. The similarities in basic shape between the old and new models can be seen in this test mule.
The current platform is being kept and updated for a number of reasons. It will keep the Fabia as the VW Group’s entry-level supermini. It also will ensure economy of scale, because the modified structure is already being used beneath the Skoda Rapid and Seat Toledo models and it has just been extensively updated for the facelifted Polo.
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 has previously told Autocar that the new car will “major on features like connectivity, to give it a more youthful appeal”.
Likely engine options include a pair of 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre petrol units and a 1.6-litre diesel. The 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine found in the Citigo could also be offered in the supermini.
Skoda has already confirmed that the vRS model will not be making an appearance in the next-generation Fabia, because the current car has not been a commercial success.
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