Photo: Skoda
Almost a year ago, Skoda’s CEO, Thomas Schaefer, officially confirmed the 2023 Fabia Combi. Fast forward to the present day, though, and plans for a wagon version of the B-segment car have been dropped altogether.
Can you guess the reason? If you said Europe’s stricter emission regulations, then you are right, because Auto.cz reports that this, combined with focus on battery-electric models, will help the automaker keep the carbon dioxide emissions in check on the right side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Citing CTK, the quoted Czech website states that Skoda has explained in a letter sent to employees the reason behind pulling the plug on the development of the all-new Fabia Combi, ahead of its initial production start at the Kvasiny plant, in 2023.
“The extremely strict EU7 emission standard is now further dramatically accelerating the transformation process toward electromobility. Therefore, we don’t only need more electric cars, but we also have to say goodbye to some products with an internal combustion engine faster than planned,” Skoda explained. “Therefore, together we have decided to invest consistently in the future, and to say goodbye to internal combustion engine models such as the Skoda Fabia Combi.”
The development of the 2023 Fabia Combi should have been a walk in the park, considering that it would have been based on the hatchback model, albeit with a longer roof and rear overhang, sharing its entire engine family, tech features, and everything else. Despite all these, the more practical variant of the car will not happen anymore. Customers looking for such a body style will have to make do with the Scala compact hatchback or Kamiq subcompact crossover instead. At the same time, they could also turn to the outgoing Fabia Combi, which has inevitably become the last of its kind.
We reached out to Skoda looking for official confirmation and we will update this story when (or if) we hear back from them, so stay tuned.
Citing CTK, the quoted Czech website states that Skoda has explained in a letter sent to employees the reason behind pulling the plug on the development of the all-new Fabia Combi, ahead of its initial production start at the Kvasiny plant, in 2023.
“The extremely strict EU7 emission standard is now further dramatically accelerating the transformation process toward electromobility. Therefore, we don’t only need more electric cars, but we also have to say goodbye to some products with an internal combustion engine faster than planned,” Skoda explained. “Therefore, together we have decided to invest consistently in the future, and to say goodbye to internal combustion engine models such as the Skoda Fabia Combi.”
The development of the 2023 Fabia Combi should have been a walk in the park, considering that it would have been based on the hatchback model, albeit with a longer roof and rear overhang, sharing its entire engine family, tech features, and everything else. Despite all these, the more practical variant of the car will not happen anymore. Customers looking for such a body style will have to make do with the Scala compact hatchback or Kamiq subcompact crossover instead. At the same time, they could also turn to the outgoing Fabia Combi, which has inevitably become the last of its kind.
We reached out to Skoda looking for official confirmation and we will update this story when (or if) we hear back from them, so stay tuned.
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