Skoda is famous for its station wagons. Despite how well it sells them, the Czech brand announced it would no longer make a Fabia Combi due to tougher Euro 7 emission rules. Before that, fans were expected to see it by 2023. The rendering artist Theottle had already created the station wagon derivative based on the Fabia. With Skoda’s denial that it will ever be made, he thought the Slavia could offer an excellent alternative.
The Slavia was presented in India on November 18. Based on the Volkswagen Virtus, it will only be sold in the Indian market, with no chances of ever reaching Europe. If that were the case, it would better be a station wagon. In that sense, Theottle’s idea could solve two situations with a single product: Europeans would be able to buy the Slavia, and they would get the Combi they wanted.
The Slavia has a longer wheelbase than the Fabia: 2.65 meters (104.4 inches) instead of 2.56 m (100.8 in). The additional 9 centimeters (3.6 in) would make the affordable station wagon a lot roomier and more attractive, especially if that did not mean it would be much more expensive than the hatchback. The issue with that reasoning is that Skoda did not give up on the option because people would not be willing to buy it. It did so because development costs would not allow it to sell this Fabia Combi for the right price.
When you consider that the electrification push will intensify, it may have been a blessing in disguise for prospective buyers of the Fabia Combi. It will get hard to sell a pure combustion-engined vehicle in Europe as a used car very soon. With traffic restrictions, most people would either have these cars for as long as possible or just get rid of them for meager prices. That means they would bear massive depreciation costs.
To replace the Fabia Combi, Skoda will probably use a B-segment electric crossover, the same one Volkswagen and Seat are conceiving nowadays to hit the market after 2025. If all goes well and demand for station wagons persist, the Czech brand may eventually build one again, but we would not hold our breaths for that.
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