According to the latest reports, Skoda is considering discontinuing the popular Fabia hatchback after discontinuing its long-roofed waggon variant a year ago.
Many popular cars in Europe will be rendered obsolete by the upcoming stringent Euro 7 standards.
Skoda’s CEO
According to Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer admitted that updating the Fabia to meet Euro 7 standards would make the supermini too expensive and drive away customers.
Maintaining an acceptable pricing for the B-segment hatchback “will not be possible” if the draught is approved in its final version.
Keep in mind that Volkswagen said the same thing about the Polo hatchback, a vehicle with a mechanical design comparable to the Fabia.
The Seat Ibiza is set to follow suit. Although Seat has not made any announcements about its plans for the Ibiza, we don’t expect a bright future for the Spanish supermini, especially given that the recently established Cupra marque is being favoured over Seat.
Not to mention that Audi has already said that it would cease production of the A1 at the end of this model generation, implying that the VW Group is preparing to go without a compact ICE-powered vehicle in the not-too-distant future.
VW claimed that after making adjustments to the Polo to meet Euro 7 standards, the price of the compact car would need to climb by €5,000.
Because all three vehicles are built on the same MQB-A0 platform, the Fabia and Ibiza should be in the same situation.
The European Commission, on the other hand, claims that upgrading to Euro 7 standards will cost automakers only €304. This obviously demonstrates a diametrically opposed posture between regulators and automakers.
The small EVs that the VW Group aims to sell in Europe starting in 2025 with a starting price of €25,000 will compete with the Fabia, Polo, and Ibiza on the European market.
The VW ID2.all, Cupra UrbanRebel, and Skoda Small have already shown glimpses of such EVs, which will eventually eat into the market share of traditional ICE subcompacts.
To read our blog on “Skoda Vision 7S EV concept breaks cover; launch brand’s new logo,” click here
