The Fabia is offered in Europe with a variety of 7 modern, fuel-efficient engines, including 1.2 TSI and 1.9 TSI.
But in India, Skoda is suckering the public with outdated 3 cylinder 1.2 MPI and 1.4 PD TDI engines that have been junked everywhere else years ago. On top of it, we are asked to pay the premium price of Rs. 7-9 Lakhs for the claimed "Super Hatch"!
On test driving Skoda Fabia 1.2 MPI Ambiente in Kanpur, I came away with an engine that quickly stalls or runs out of steam at highway speeds. There was no pick-up with AC on and the car protested with a loud howl everytime I tried to accelerate past trucks and other slow traffic. It took a long time (even slower than an old "Premier Padmini") to reach 100 kmph with four people on board and with AC on.
But the Skoda dealers feel they are doing Indians a favour by selling their "gold plated" car. Ms Vishal Cars in Kanpur even lied miserably to claim that the 1.2 MPI Fabia I drove in March was Euro IV compliant, when Skoda’s own website said it was only Euro III. Furthermore, there was a tendency to blind-side a potential customer like me with wrong claims about Fabia’s features (like Parking sensors, projector headlamps) that I later found out were only available in the top "Elegance" variant. Good thing I did not fall for the car!!