[agambhandari]

The Autocar India Editor Hormazd Sorabjee reports that Skoda plans to discontinue the Fabia shortly. It is going to stop the production soon and the stocks are expected to run out by the end of this year or early next year. So expect some heavy discounts for the Fabia Aspiring customers.

Fabia, originally launched in early 2008, was touted as the first real premium hatchback in the country, but had a ridiculous price according to most(with the top the line features) went under a facelift to transform into the current model alongwith rationalisation of its prices. ACI claims that the move comes in light of the fact that Skoda was infact losing money on every Fabia they sold , upto an extent of Rs 1,50,000/-. So the customers were getting some great deal. A lot of parts are shared with the VW Polo. But considering that VW Polo seems no signs of slowing down, it seems that none of those expensive parts have anything to do with the Drivetrains which are pretty similar in both the cars.

Unlike the recent news on Jazz discontinuation, Skoda doesn't plan to bring in the next-gen Fabia anytime soon, at least for the next 2 years. Hopefully that Gujarat dealer will get the next Fabia by 2018 to satisfy some of its then-older customers!

This move will surely kill whatever resale values the Fabia demanded, and with the car discontinued, spare and service could be a bigger problems considering the already grim situation of the Skoda A.S.S. Coming to the point of A.S.S , Skoda is looking to drive its investment into this area to fix its long standing sore point. All I hope for is that we actually see the change in this aspect sometime soon.

Autocar India Website also has it now:http://www.autocarindia.com/News/343...-in-india.aspx

[fx45]

Shocking indeed. First its the Honda Jazz, and now its the Fabia.

Its on ACI website now. Saw it some time back on TV as well.

http://www.autocarindia.com/News/343...-in-india.aspx

[lancer_rit]

Hmmm... Fabia is a very competent hatch (leaving aside the old 1.2l engine in the older model) but Skoda marketing and A.S.S. failed to really capitalize. The dealer network was limited too.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Attachment 1084427
The Autocar India Editor Hormazd Sorabjee reports that Skoda plans to discontinue the Fabia shortly.

Fabia, originally launched in early 2009, was touted as .......

Hi. I think the early 2009 might be a typo, as the Fabia had been launched much prior to 2009. It has actually been available since early 2008 (I had booked my 1.4 petrol in Dec 2008 and got my car delivered in 1st week of Jan 2009).

Sad indeed. Is still a wonderful car (for me).

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Hi. I think the early 2009 might be a typo, as the Fabia had been launched much prior to 2009. It has actually been available since early 2008 (I had booked my 1.4 petrol in Dec 2008 and got my car delivered in 1st week of Jan 2009).

Sad indeed. Is still a wonderful car (for me).

Yes, I checked now, it is indeed 2008

[YashD]

I am shocked to hear this news. Was planning to get myself the Fabia in a couple of months replacing my 3.5 years old i10. Really sad to see that First Jazz and now Fabia is geting pulled out of the market. Fabia is a great car and is really a premium hatchback. The pathetic after sales service and improper marketing killed the car. Btw, what is the company going to do about giving the base model of fabia to some Rapid customers. It was a scheme or something in Gujrat right?

[shankar.balan]

Perhaps worth considering buying a well kept used Fabia then. The Re sale value now will be quite wallet friendly.

[hrman]

Hmm. Was predictable news. In fact, I was thinking that if Skoda wanted to really be serious on its Indian market, it would discontinue the Fabia. Come to think of it, the Fabia has been selling less than Laura, which is priced three times higher. That itself should be an indication of the writing on the wall.

I don't forsee a shortage of internal parts, since a lot of its components are shared with the Rapid or Polo. External parts replacement may be a bother though, beyond the manufacturer stipulated part availability period. Do expect lots of delays in sourcing parts.

I'm not happy that now, the Rapid is the lowest entry offering from Skoda.

[ampere]

In fact I hoping; because of Polo TSI, we might get to see a Fabia TSI which would have just perfect. Yesterday I did see a tweet from Sorabjee which said a big scoop in the waiting in the program. Did not realise that it was Fabia's last hurrah.

[dkaile]

That's a sad end to a fabulous product. Its such a well balanced design overall. Cannot really understand why the Indian market never really took to it. Perhaps because its annual service charges are the same as my Superb. That and the poor AS_S eventually ended its short history in India.

[GrammarNazi]

Wasn't there a dealership in Gujarat that had an offer that , "Buy a Rapid & get a Fabia free" (after 5 years). lol what an offer! But obviously this had to happen. A very large part of the reason was not only the after sales experience but also the test drive experiences. Not to mention the clatter that the 3 Pot engine made at low speeds. Of course it was rev-happy at high speeds, but the clatter at low speeds was just too loud. Only good thing was its boot space and interior quality. Anyway.

[9thsphinx]

Whatever happened to the Fabia TSi - the same engine that the Polo now gets? The Fabia RS was also something that would have done wonders if launched in India at the right prices.

From these product discontinuations there is one thing to learn from our market. If you haven't priced it right, no matter how well the product, it just wont survive!

[vb-saan]

I am not really surprised with this move. Unimaginative pricing and wrong placement did the trick initially. Later they tried to make amends but buyers went for the more neutral looking Polo with a perceived better brand image.
Actually, instead of launching a laughable Fabia Scout, they should have thought of the 1.2 TSI Fabia.

Personally I think the Fabia is a good product, and I hope they launch it back as a better package when the next gen comes out (2014-15?).

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by dkaile

That's a sad end to a fabulous product. Its such a well balanced design overall. Cannot really understand why the Indian market never really took to it. Perhaps because its annual service charges are the same as my Superb. That and the poor AS_S eventually ended its short history in India.

True.

Infact, when we went for our purchase rounds, my wife rejected the Polo outright for its cramped interior space - but Fabia was there till the last round. It offered super build quality, neat looking interiors, very good space and a balanced design.

But then - its somehow not a desirable product. Ticks all the right boxes, but doesn't pull the heartstrings- which the Polo manages better even with all those shortcomings compared to the Fabia.

[deetjohn]

It was the very high price and the uninspiring engines which gave the first blow to Fabia. Then, VW came in with Polo at a very aggressive price for the TL and Fabia never recovered.

The debut variants of the Fabia was very well kitted though! The projector headlights looked fab indeed.

And so, the guys who bought Rapid under this scheme has to make do with 3.5L I suppose. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...r-5-years.html