In a somewhat surprising move, Skoda has announced the all-new Fabia coming in 2021 will be limited to the hatchback body style for the time being. While the more practical Combi body style has been confirmed for a next generation, it’s going to be a long wait since it won’t be unveiled alongside the supermini.
The disclosure was made by the company’s boss, Thomas Schäfer, in an interview with German magazine Auto Motor und Sport. He revealed the plan is to keep the current Fabia wagon on sale until the end of 2022 and launch its replacement at the beginning of 2023. It means Skoda will sell two generations of a nameplate at the same time for nearly two years in a move that reminds us of the time when the first-gen-based Octavia Tour peacefully co-existed with the second-gen Octavia for a while.
It looks like Skoda will be taking its sweet time renewing the long-roof Fabia, and while this decision will upset fans of small yet practical cars, we should see the glass half full. After all, the Czech brand is among the very few automakers to still have a subcompact wagon on sale after Renault phased out the Clio Sport Tourer, Dacia the Logan MCV, and SEAT the Ibiza ST. With no big rivals to worry about, Skoda can afford to stick to the existing Fabia Combi for a couple more years.
In the same interview with AMS, Thomas Schäfer revealed the Mladá Boleslav brand will launch the next generation of its pint-sized Citigo with a combustion engine. It will go up against the recently spotted 2022 Toyota Aygo and other tiny city cars part of an endangered A-segment in Europe due to stricter emissions regulations.
Aside from the Fabia hatch, 2021 will also see the launch of a coupe-esque Enyaq GT fully electric SUV and we’re also expecting the Kodiaq large SUV to go through a nip and tuck.