Its quite simple :
Who is gonna buy it?
The C segment has tremendous competition, and is filled with extremely competent cars. The New Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Baleno and the recently price-chopped Toyota Corolla are great picks.
Does the Skoda Fabia have it to compete with these? Lets look at what C Segment buyers really want:
1. Space : Size sells. And the Fabia is thoroughly disappointing on this count. If you think the Octavia is cramped, wait till you check out the Fabia. Hormazd, in the latest Autocar, says that the Fabia is significantly cramped even compared to the New Honda City. Rear seat leg room is clearly not a strength with most European cars.
2. After-Sales Service : Another Skoda weakness. Most of us are familiar with the shabby treatment and service offered at most Skoda outlets. If they cant handle Octavia and Laura numbers, I cant fathom how they will handle the larger C segment at all.
3. Fuel Efficiency : No petrol Skoda is known for its fuel efficiency and this is an area where it will almost certainly be beaten by the Japs. The Fabia also supposedly has a diesel, but that advantage is not exclusive to it anymore. The Verna and Fiesta also offer extremely competent diesels.
4. Looks : To me, the Fabia looks like C-R-A-P and more like a shrunken Octavia. With the Fabia, Skoda will have 4 cars which look very similar (Fabia, Octavia, Laura and Superb).
5. Power : That the Fabia has none of. Autocar reports that the Fabia is to arrive with an 80bhp engine.
6. Cost of Spare-parts : Skodas are fatally expensive to maintain, and simply cant hope to compete with its Jap / Korean counterparts on this front.