[ph03n!x]

This is from Today's TOI - Chennai Edition:

Skoda recalls petrol version of Fabia

New Delhi: Czech automaker Skoda has recalled the petrol version of its Fabia hatchback for rectifying a technical glitch that was affecting fuel efficiency and performance of the car.
According to sources, the company has called back the 1200cc and 1400cc variants of the Fabia petrol for a “technical upgradation.” The company confirmed that it had recalled the car, but blamed “inconsistent fuel quality” behind the step. Due to inconsistent fuel quality in India, Skoda India has done minor change in the software to attain better fuel economy and driving performance, the company said.
Skoda is assembling the Fabia at its Aurangabad factory. Many of the critical components on the car are imported and may not be suitable for local conditions or available fuel quality. According to sources, several customers had experienced problems with the car and some even complained that the brake pedal became hard, while driving at a high speed.
Skoda officials said they would rectify the problem free of cost. “We are not charging anything for this and customers would just need to spend about 20-30 minutes at the dealerships,” a company spokesperson said. All manufacturers do constant upgradations of their products so that the customer always enjoys the best quality and service, the company further said.
Fabia, which also has a diesel version, is expected to lead Skoda’s charge in India and get volumes for the company. The company had launched the 1200cc version of the car only in May this year to compete with models like Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Getz.
Fuel efficiency is a very important factor in determining the success of cars not only in India, but even in developed markets like the US and Europe, considering high price of crude.
Recalls for replacing faulty parts or rectifying technical glitches are not a common phenomenon in India as companies fear negative publicity would impact demand for the model. Globally it is not uncommon to see that companies are making recall announcements.
Last year, Honda India had recalled 2310 units of its luxury sedan Accord sold in 2005 and 2006 for replacement of a faulty relay in the fuel-pump of. This company had done this as part of a global recall. In 2005, Maruti had also recalled about 500 units of its Zen model for coolant leakage. Bajaj Auto had also recalled its scooter Kristal last year for a fuel pump problem.
Technical glitches apart, Skoda has lined up an ambitious strategy for the Indian market. The company not only plans to bring in an all-new small car in the Rs 3-5 lakh range but will also introduce an all-new low-price ‘successor’ to its Octavia sedan that would be priced below Rs 10 lakh. The company also plans to bring in the lowemission environment-friendly ‘Greenline’ Fabia range, currently being sold in major European markets.

After reading through, I don't know if terming this as "Recall" is correct. And I wonder what was Skoda upto when they were road-testing the Fabia - where they using imported Fuel?!!

Petrol Fabia owners - It would be good if you can let us know your mileage before and after this "upgrade", and the model (1.2 or 1.4).

[iraghava]

Well the performance is being affected because of the puny, underpowered engines. Are they plonking in bigger engine to improve the performance as part of the recall??

And I didn't know that after being in India for the better part of a decade Skoda still does not know how to setup their cars for the fuel available here. I wonder why their 2.0/1.8 Turbo engines in the Octavia never had these problems. And it seems in Skoda cars the brakes too are affected by the bad fuel quality!!

What a bunch of hogwash!

[karanraheja]

why they blaming the fuel quality when their 1.2 P is lacking power??? Surprised that a company of Skoda s standards is recalling their cars !!

[bottle]

Wonder if the ecu upgrade or whatever makes the car even less responsive in trying to improve FE

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

why they blaming the fuel quality when their 1.2 P is lacking power??? Surprised that a company of Skoda s standards is recalling their cars !!

Recalling cars has nothing to do with the quality of the company. Its just that recalling cars aint that big a phenomenon unlike the US

But yes, blaming it on fuel quality would subsequently affect sales since potential buyers would just think, especially given the reputation of the Fabia's price and spares.

[tez]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Well the performance is being affected because of the puny, underpowered engines. Are they plonking in bigger engine to improve the performance as part of the recall??

And I didn't know that after being in India for the better part of a decade Skoda still does not know how to setup their cars for the fuel available here. I wonder why their 2.0/1.8 Turbo engines in the Octavia never had these problems. And it seems in Skoda cars the brakes too are affected by the bad fuel quality!!

What a bunch of hogwash!

i dont think they can plonk a new engine in 25-30 minutes. They have mentioned that the existing users can come to service center and get the upgrade done with 25-30 mins. Looks like an ECU change for better FE.
Its the first time i have heard that brakes are related to the fuel.

[ac 427]

i think otherwise on this front.
I think this is a positive move from Skoda, earlier they would have never agreed to the problem, or would have never acknoledged it. Now they are.
Which means they are listening somewhere. which means they are bothered. Which means its Good.

cheers,
ac

[amit]

None of the Fabia owners have complained about fuel efficiency even on this forum. In India, poor mileage can kill sales faster then any other major defect. If the Fabia's were giving that low mileage then it would be big news all over. Probably, they are making changes to improve driveablity but the question is how much improvement can they make with that 3 cylinder engine?

Nevertheless, whatever the reason, it's good to know that Skoda is responding and getting pro-active about customer complaints.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Give them credit where it is due; they have found something wrong, admitted it and are doing something (hopefully effective) about it.

But no credit for use of the horrible non-word upgradation. Or for using it as a euphemism for correcting a fault, which selling a car which doesn't run well on local fuel certainly is. It is not as if they are new to the market.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by amit

None of the Fabia owners have complained about fuel efficiency even on this forum. .

I don't think there is a petrol Fabia owner on this forum, or is there ?

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I don't think there is a petrol Fabia owner on this forum, or is there ?

Check the latest thread of an user with a 1.4 MPI Elegance!

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I don't think there is a petrol Fabia owner on this forum, or is there ?

There's one or two. Guess 1.2 one's.

I doubt if its really the fuel story.

Was wondering why no one did a Stile 1.1/Palio 1.2/ Fabia 1.2 shootout.

[GTO]

Old news, reports of some issues with petrol Fabia's have been doing the rounds on Team-BHP since a while. I think this is going to be a simple firmware upgrade. What I don't get is, how can anyone expect the petrol Fabia to be high on fuel-efficiency? That 1.2 liter engine is working hard to move the Euro-built body. A hatch like the Fabia will never be as fuel efficient as say, a Swift or a Santro. My guess is, they are going to detune the 1.2 and it's going to become even more sluggish than it already was.

[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by GTO

That 1.2 liter engine is working hard to move the Euro-built body. A hatch like the Fabia will never be as fuel efficient as say, a Swift or a Santro. My guess is, they are going to detune the 1.2 and it's going to become even more sluggish than it already was.

Not just the 1.2, even the 1.4 feels like it is working really hard to pull the heavy body.

I wouldn't give Skoda too many points for being honest, if one can call it so. The local dealer here was denying reports of any such issue till recently.

“inconsistent fuel quality” is something Skoda should have known about after selling cars in India for so many years. I can't take this as an excuse from a manufacturer who charges 8L for a 1.4l petrol hatchback. They should have taken their time to set this right, rather than launch an expensive import in haste.

[aaggoswami]

Certainly something wrong with Skoda. Skoda is operating in this country since some time now. They are aware fo the fuel quality in our country. Why could they not launch the Fabia accordingly ?

The engines are themselves not quite powerful to start with. For poor performance from underpowered engines, they are blaming fuel quality.

I wonder why the volume players like Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Honda and Toyota never faced this fuel problem.