2014 Skoda Fabia rendered; A 'VisionT' could be its precursor in 2013

06/08/2012 - 08:00 | ,  ,   | Kaustubh Shinde

Here at IAB, we follow the work of three rendering artists quite closely. First is obviously our in house maestro SRK, who is not very happy to learn that we've been sneaking into his computer; second is the artist working on Autobild.de who goes by the name Larson.

2014 Skoda Fabia front2015 Skoda Fabia rear

The third one is a very special friend from Malaysia – Theophilius Chin.

All three artists have made a mark on the world and are highly regarded in the international automotive industry.

Theophilus Chin brings us an exquisite rendering of the 2014 Skoda Fabia. Recently, Skoda officials confirmed that the brand has plans to chop the boot off the European Skoda Rapid to make a large size hatchback – on similar lines of the VW Golf. Theophilus Chin feels that the new hatchback will replace the current generation Skoda Fabia.

While we have heard that the next gen Fabia will sit on the MQB platform, and the Rapid does not use this underpinning, we have no confirmation from Skoda as to whether this is a third hatchback (after the Fabia and Citigo) or a Fabia replacement.

As one can see from the artwork, Chin's next generation Skoda hatchback will be influenced by the MissionL styling featured on the European Skoda Rapid. If Skoda has any plans to take this artwork seriously, we would say that the chop job would be a very successful one.

What do we know about the 2014 Skoda Fabia?

  • The Skoda Fabia will ditch the old PQ24 platform to adopt the new MQB architecture.
  • The new platform will help the Skoda Fabia lose a lot of weight and gain a slightly longer wheelbase coupled with a bigger boot.
  • If the next generation Polo is anything to go by, the new Fabia will shed at least 36 kg of weight and gain 5 cm in wheelbase
  • Also, thanks to the huge cost savings of the new platform, the new Fabia will be infused with a lot of technology while keeping the costs rational.
  • The current Fabia has a boot of 315 litres. Owing to the new platform, it will be increased to 350 litres in the all new Fabia.
  • There are also rumors that Skoda will retire the 1.2L MPI petrol engine in favor of the fuel efficient 1.2L TSI engines. The 1.2L TDI diesel will be carried over possibly in two state of tunes - 75 hp and 90 hp.
  • Cylinder deactivation and start-stop technology could be on offer. The engines are expected to be more powerful and efficient than the current mills and will deliver better drivability.
  • The gearbox is not going to undergo any upgrade or replacement.
  • The new model will also spawn a Roomster MPV, Scout (raised suspension with fake off-road malarkey), Combi (station wagon) and a powerful vRS variant.
  • There are rumors that the next generation Skoda Fabia will be previewed via a ‘VisionT’ concept sometime next year. Regular readers of IAB know Skoda has already shown a VisionD at Geneva 2011 that previews the design language of all forthcoming Skoda models.

The current generation Skoda Fabia Mark 2 (5J) was announced in India in 2007. Production of the vehicle was shifted to Chakan in late 2009. It was given a minor facelift in 2010 and since then the car has remained pretty much the same.

An equity infusion to the tune of 300 crore was recently announced to beef up Skoda India’s future plans. The Czech automaker also has plans to increase the dealership network to 150 dealer outlets by 2015, up from the current 102 outlets.

Could the money be channelized into making changes to the Chakan plant to support the new MQB architecture where the Skoda Fabia will be manufactured in the future?

Skoda needs to get the next generation Fabia absolutely bang on if it intends to reach its target of 1.5 million in 2018

[Source: Theophiluschin.com]

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