A heavily camouflaged test mule of the next generation Skoda Fabia has been spotted testing for the first time at the Nürburgring. The new Fabia will debut at the Paris Motor Show and will be launched in the first quarter of 2015 in the UK.
The camouflage kind of hides the fine details, but the wide front grille used in the Rapid Spaceback is evident. At the rear the large tail-light clusters are evident and the boot seems to use a small lip spoiler.
The new Fabia is the first model to be underpinned by the new shortened version of Volkswagen Group's famous MQB platform, dubbed MQB-A. The car is expected to be both longer and wider than the existing model. Dimensionally, the current Fabia is 4,000mm long and 1,642mm wide in standard form, and is 1498mm tall.
The Fabia is likely to be powered by the VW Group's pool of MQB-compatible powertrains. The ideal range would include the pair of 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre TSI petrols, and a 1.6-litre diesel. Also, the 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine found in the Volkswagen Up might also be in the offing.
The longer and wider dimensions should make the car more spacious and versatile. Skoda officials have said in the past that they don’t want to alienate existing Fabia buyers, but the car will get new features like connectivity to give it a youthful appeal.
Skoda discontinued the Fabia in India owing to poor sales, and the image of the Czech brand’s cars being expensive to maintain and run did take a toll on its sales. This time around a big uncertainty looms around the launch of the Fabia in India. But, we expect it to be launched in India by 2016.The European model is likely to exceed the 4 metre cap, but if it is introduced in India it will get minor tweaks to keep it under that mark. As will be the case with its VW group cousin the Polo which will be underpinned by the same platform.
Read more about the third-gen Skoda Fabia
Source: AutocarUK
