Skoda is mulling to enter the compact SUV segment soon and plans to launch a crossover based on the Fabia. While the Fabia might not come to India soon, this could make it here.
The latest and hottest segment the world over at the moment is that of compact SUVs. All manufacturers are looking to bring in a product in the segment because according to industry analysts, the global market for SUVs is predicted to account for almost 22 million cars a year by 2020. Talking about Skoda particularly, the manufacturer has not really got going in the SUV segment and only retails the Yeti at the moment, which itself has been doing very poorly in the sales department.
Skoda is targeting a very ambitious sales target of 1.5 million units in the world by the year 2020, which is around a 50 percent increase over what the company achieved in the year 2014. For this plan to succeed, Skoda is planing to launch more SUVs as the future of mobility definitely seems to have more of such vehicles. Skoda will be replacing the Yeti all over the world in the 2017 and will also launch a flagship, 7-seater SUV towards the end of this year. But along with the above two products, Skoda is also looking to launch an SUV which will sit right below the Yeti and might be based on the Fabia hatchback.
Auto Express has rendered a compact crossover based on the Fabia and it carries the typical characteristics and changes one expects in such a conversion. To put things into perspective, this car ain’t a version of the 2012 Taigun concept, but will instead use a shortened version of the MQB modular architecture, with all the technical benefits and economies of scale that it brings along with it. The SUV will be a larger than the Fabia in all dimensions, but will carry a similar styling as the classy looking hatchback. To bring forward the ruggedness of the SUV, the car will feature the typical bits like black body cladding, increased ground clearance, front and rear skid plates and so on.
However, the vehicle will definitely not feature any mechanical changes to make it a capable off-roader. Skoda CEO, Dr Winfried Vahland said that for a small SUV, Europe would be the main market and the vehicle will not be a 4×4, but will keep the general traits of a Skoda which includes a high seating and a sense of roominess. The main thing is that the vehicle should be affordable. It will get more powerful engines as compared to the Fabia though, which means a choice of 1.2-litre TSI or 1.4 and 1.6-litre TDI units.
The compact SUV or crossover is expected to make its world debut towards the end of 2016 and may even launch in India in the following year. But one thing is for certain, if the compact SUV does end up looking similar to the rendering, then it will be one of the best looking cars in the segment.
Source – AutoExpress.co.uk
