Škoda Fabia: the car that made Škoda mainstream

The Škoda Fabia is a small family car that Škoda Auto has built since 1999, when it replaced the Felicia. The first generation was the company’s first model on a Volkswagen Group platform, it was sold as a hatchback, estate and saloon, and it turned Škoda from a budget curiosity into a mainstream European brand.

Škoda Fabia at a glance

History of the Škoda Fabia

The first generation, 1999–2008

The Fabia was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 14 September 1999 as a five-door hatchback, and series production began on 19 October that year; in the Czech Republic sales started on 4 December 1999 from 249,000 Kč for the 1.0-litre car of 37 kW. It was the first model to use the Volkswagen Group’s A04 platform, shared with the Polo Mk4 and the SEAT Ibiza, and its success came from combining Volkswagen engineering with a price below that of its group sisters. The only genuinely Škoda engines were the 1.0 and 1.4 MPI pushrod units, developed from the old 1.3 of the 130 and Favorit; they were dropped in April 2003, shortly after the Czech-designed three-cylinder 1.2 MPI appeared, later renamed 1.2 HTP for High Torque Power. The estate, called Fabia Combi, followed in September 2000 and the sedan in May 2001; a panel van version, the Fabia Praktik, was built from 2002 to 2006. In 2000 the car scored four stars for adult occupant protection in the Euro NCAP test.

Updates and the RS

The first generation was facelifted in the summer of 2004, with a new front bumper and round fog lamps, a Škoda-style C-shape in the rear lamps, a third rear head restraint and a three-point belt for the middle rear seat, a steering wheel from the second-generation Octavia and new upholstery. A Sport model joined the range. The Fabia RS of 2003, sold as the vRS in Britain, was the first hot hatch offered only with a diesel engine: Volkswagen’s 1.9-litre Pumpe-Düse TDI of 96 kW and 310 Nm with a six-speed gearbox, a top speed of 206 km/h and a claimed 0–100 km/h in 9.6 seconds, though magazines measured considerably quicker times.

Four generations

Hatchback production of the first generation ended on 13 April 2007, the estate at the turn of 2007 and 2008 and the sedan in March 2008, after 1,788,063 cars: 992,921 hatchbacks, 660,601 estates and 134,541 saloons. About 45,000 hatchbacks were built in Poznań for Poland in 2000–2002 and cars were assembled in Solomonovo in Ukraine from 2002. The second generation came in 2007, the third in 2014 with a facelift in 2018, and the fourth was revealed in May 2021. The two-millionth Fabia was built in April 2007 and the three-millionth in May 2012. Silver diamond metallic was the most popular colour of the first generation, with 430,951 cars, and the rare pistachio green Fabia later acquired a following of its own.

Design and features

• Volkswagen platform: the first Škoda built on group underpinnings, shared with the Polo and Ibiza.
• Three bodies and a van: hatchback, Combi, sedan and the Praktik panel van.
• Czech three-cylinder: the 1.2 HTP developed in Mladá Boleslav from Volkswagen’s 1.6.
• Diesel-only hot hatch: the RS used a 96 kW 1.9 TDI and a six-speed gearbox.

Škoda Fabia versions

• Fabia hatchback (1999–2007): the original five-door, 992,921 built.
• Fabia Combi (2000–2008): the estate, 660,601 built.
• Fabia Sedan (2001–2008): four-door saloon, 134,541 built.
• Fabia Praktik (2002–2006): two-seat panel van.
• Fabia RS (2003): 1.9 TDI of 96 kW with a six-speed gearbox.
• Junior and Easy: stripped-down versions for Eastern European markets.

The Fabia replaced the Škoda Felicia and sits above the Škoda Citigo in the range. More cars are in the Škoda collection.

Video: 2014 Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI – 90 PS – Kaufberatung, Test, Review

Video by Ausfahrt.tv on YouTube.

Sources

• Škoda Fabia, English Wikipedia: generations, platform, engines, RS, trim levels
• Škoda Fabia, Czech Wikipedia: launch dates, production split, colours, Praktik, milestones