Why Skoda is not launching the Fabia

[GTO]

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.

[tsk1979]

You forgot cost of spare parts. Skodas cost twice as much to maintain as similarly priced cars.
A guy paying 7L for a car will not take kindly to hefty service bills. Considering its a baby octavia(engine etc.,) there is a good chance that a 40K service will set you back by 20-30K.

[himanshugoswami]

Though I am not a great fan of Skoda, i feel one thing that the Fabia has going for it is great build quality and good quality interiors (though a very dull design).

What would be critical would be how skoda price it, if at all they decide to launch it. I feel skoda should seriously look at the Fabia combi- that car could be the joker in the C segment pack. It looks way better than the saloon Fabia and powered by a good diesel, could be an interesting alternative to a regular C segment car.

[GTO]

Thanks man! Added as point no.6

[Dippy]

The Fabia would have worked if it was launched over a year ago before the Fiesta and the newly launched Verna. Now it doesnt stand a chance to succeed in what is now a very price sensitive market. And i dont see the Fabia comin in within a 7 lakh price range. Skoda owners pay heavy spare part prices for the Octavia but they will never do that in the case of the Fabia. The Verna with it brilliant CRDi engine is a sure success and the after sales service of Hyundai is top notch.

Een if launched the fabia might die an early death

[navin]

What about a Faba vRS. It will give the Vtec a run for it's money.

[Rtech]

1. Space : Size sells.

This, IMO, is the main reason Skoda cannot launch the Fabia. I had the chance to check out the Fabia in Europe, and the interior space was terrible. Its fine in the EU where they buy small cars for precisely that reason i.e being small, but in India, most buyers buy small cars because they cannot afford a larger car. Hence, even if a car is small from the outside, it needs to offer as much space as possible inside. And this is something the Fabia just cannot do.

2. After-Sales Service :

Not sure on this part. The latest Overdrive issue rates skoda service above stalwarts like Maruti.

3. Fuel Efficiency

VW has some of the best diesel engines in the world, and infact, this is the only area where the Fabia would be on par with the others.

4. Looks

Looks are subjective and we've seen that if the car is fundamentally good, people will overlook oddball designs (Santro!).

5. Power :

Its got more than enough power for is class. Remember, the Octavia TDi has only 90bhp, but you'd never guess that from the way it moves. On paper specs tell you only a small bit of the story.

So basically, Skoda cannot launch the Fabia because it is far too small a car, and it would be far to expensive to find a niche in that class. Also, with more diesels present in that class (Verna CRDi, Fiesta), its USP of a diesel will not hold good.

However, the new Fabia is scheduled to make its international debut soon, so going by Skoda history, should we expect Skoda India to import the old Fabia's machinery here and begin selling this model at a lower price? I hope not, but we really can never be sure in this market.

[2L8uLoose]

Another "BAH HUMBUG SKODA" thread.....
Here's my view.. there is no decient small hatchback car yet in the Indian Market..and before people jump down my throat I am not saying that the Fabia will be the saviour of this segment but yes it will give people a choice.
And for all you skoda haters, if the company is so problematic.. how come their cars still sell?

[kvish]

2L8uLoose : your avatar rocks man

Coming to the skoda fabia.... I think they can surprise everyone with price tag of somewhere close to the current fusion.... then it makes some VFM... unless ofcourse they get their service act together....

Boy, you should just check the way new skoda cars are kept near the hosur road tata showroom.... Maruti kept my 800 in a much much better condition in their stockyard.....

[SkyWalker]

i think as a brand skoda is dying a slow death here... Agreed it has a beautiful vRS (the only gem in its stable right now), but thats about it.

Octavia is no match for the newer sedans and its advantage of being the only diesel in its category is soon gonna be over with new
Elantra diesel. If the Verna diesel is an indication, new Elantra diesel will be a killer and well priced. Even now an Elantra diesel @ 9L is a better VFM than the Octavia TDi.

Skoda doesnt have the brand value to take opn Toyota or Honda.

Skoda service (as seen in multiple posts here) is poor and expensive.

Laura, apart form is cheesy name, is horribly overpriced. Any brand conscious, image conscious customer would buy an Accord at that price. And once Embera diesel is here

Dont even want comment on the Superb

[lurker]

Originally Posted by GTO

Why Skoda is not launching the Fabia ??

The main reason is:

Skoda's parent company VW is planning to introduce its Golf and Polo models in India. And those would compete directly with Fabia.

I said this before...VW's premium cars are priced out of reach of most Indians due to the way our politicians tax the full-size cars.

So VW will leave the full-size models in India to Skoda (Octavia/Laura/Superb/Combi/Scout??etc) and themselves concentrate on the economy hatchbacks in India.

[GTO]

The latest Overdrive issue rates skoda service above stalwarts like Maruti.

LOL man! Come on, whose research are you quoting here? Realistically all of us (including yourself in particular) know how terrible Skoda service is.

VW has some of the best diesel engines in the world, and infact, this is the only area where the Fabia would be on par with the others.

The diesel is matched by the Fiesta and Verna. I speak about the FE of the petrol car.

Remember, the Octavia TDi has only 90bhp, but you'd never guess that from the way it moves.

The 90BHP you speak about is diesel, and has inherent torque characteristics. The 80BHP I mention in the opening thread is for the petrol version.

If the company is so problematic.. how come their cars still sell?

Diesel USP, 2l8. WIth the Octavia and with the Laura. Buttttttttttttt tell me which Skoda car really sells. The Octavia is no longer the segment leader. I have heard enough stories of the Laura sales but have yet to see reliable statistics on how it is doing (not "Oh yes, I have seen several on the road"). Maybe it is doing decently well in the D segment due to its diesel advantage, but then again...the numbers are too small out there to really validate a "Skoda sells" story.

The Superb...well.

[2L8uLoose]

Originally Posted by GTO

Diesel USP, 2l8. .

So then by that logic.. why arent people buying the crappy Tata Indica's or Indigo's or Marina's instead of going for the Skoda's, Merc's et all?
Now we all REALLY know how bad those cars are don't we??
At the end of the day its all up to a persons personal choice.. if someone wants to buy what others percieve to be a sub standard car.. its their money to throw down the drain.
Cheers.

[GTO]

crappy Tata Indica's or Indigo's or Marina's instead of going for the Skoda's, Merc's et all?

Apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The last I checked, the Indigo and Mercedes were not competing in the same segment.

And I wouldnt really call an Indica / Indigo as a crappy car. For the price, they offer a LOT of value. This fact is attested by 10,000 customers a month.

[suman]

Originally Posted by 2L8uLoose

So then by that logic.. why arent people buying the crappy Tata Indica's or Indigo's or Marina's instead of going for the Skoda's, Merc's et all?
Now we all REALLY know how bad those cars are don't we??

There are loads of people buying the "crappy" Indicas or Indigos from what I keep reading ???? Different segments aren't they.....

EDIT: Oops sorry GTO, didn't realize you were posting the same thing!