Skoda's Fabia to take on the Maruti Swift and Hyundai Getz

Small has indeed become beautiful. Not only are carmakers innovating to launch small cars in India, the focus is now strongly on low fuel consumption that reduces the cost of ownership of a car.

After the launch of the two-cylinder engine Nano from the Tata Motors stable (See: Tata motors launches the Rs 1-lakh car, Nano), Skoda Auto is launching its three-cylinder hatchback Fabia that was prominently showcased at the Ninth Auto Expo held in Delhi recently. Skoda Fabia, which will also be seen at the Geneva Motor show in March, has a small engine configuration. It is powered by a 3-cylinder petrol and 3-cylinder diesel engine. The only other car that has a 3-cylinder diesel engine is the Accent CRDi.

The petrol Fabia will take on the Zen Estilo, Swift, Chevrolet U-VA, Hyundai Getz and the diesel Fabia will compete with the diesel range of hatchbacks like the Swift, Getz and Tata Indica. Experts say the Fabia's 3-cylinder engine will make the car capable of delivering a fuel economy of 14-15km per litre.

Based on the Volkswagen platform, Skoda is branding the Fabia as a 'super hatch' and is placing it at a premium over other B segment hatchbacks in the market. The Fabia has been initially launched with an (85 bhp) 1.4 petrol litre and a (69 bhp) 1.4 diesel engine.  The 1.2 litre petrol engine version is expected to come in later part of 2008.

The Fabia is most likely to pitted against the Swift and the Getz which are both sellers in their segments. With a body weight of 1090kg the Fabia is heavier than the Swift (980kg) and the Getz (99kg) which makes it seem a bit low-powered especially in the diesel variant.  The Swift belts out 87 bhp from its petrol unit and 75 bhp from its diesel one while the Hyundai Getz diesel gives a 110 bhp from its 1.5 litre diesel engine. 

Of the three hatchbacks Fabia is highest on torque at 155nm@1600 to 2800rpm against the Swift's 103 nm@4500rpm and the Getz' 11.8@3200rpm. This will ensure a good pick up and may make up somewhat for its lower power.

Fabia's three-cylinder engine will definitely give it an edge over the other two hatchbacks in it being able to go easy on fuel a definite plus in India.