[AUTO] Skoda Fabia Estate axed to make way for new EVs

[Angel of Death]

will not offer an estate version of the new Fabia, despite earlier confirmations from high-ranking company executives that it was inbound. As the Czech brand ramps up its move towards an electrified model range, it has decided to pull the plug on development of the wagon, which was due to arrive in 2023 and be produced at Skoda’s factory in Mladá Boleslav. The decision was made in line with the firm’s commitment to Skoda's Next Level strategy, which includes the launch of three EVs by 2030.The outgoing Fabia Estate has been essentially unrivalled in the UK for the last two years; the closely related Seat Ibiza ST was pulled from sale in 2017 and Dacia hasn't directly replaced the similarly sized and priced Logan MCV. Skoda confirmed to Autocar that the model would be removed from the Fabia range in an effort to meet emissions targets set by the EU. It said: “The European Commission’s recent decision to reduce the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 is accelerating the transformation from the internal combustion engine to the e-car [EV]. “However, this also means we will be discontinuing some ICE products more quickly – particularly against the backdrop of increasingly stringent emissions legislation in Europe (Euro 7), compliance with which is associated with very high costs. “Following this decision, there will be no successor to the Fabia Estate. Nevertheless, our Czech plants will be working to full capacity. The demand for our vehicles is already exceeding our production capacities, and we're responding to the accelerated transformation to e-mobility by introducing additional e-vehicles.” Skoda CEO Thomas Schäfer previously said the variant would return in a post on his LinkedIn profile, before Volkswagen Group chairman Herbert Diess confirmed a planned 2023 launch date. “We will again have a combi [estate] version,” Schäfer said last December. “This is very important to us, because it underlines our commitment to offering affordable, practical mobility in the entry-level segments.” Czech sources had suggested the Fabia would exit production back in 2017, but the firm later confirmed the next-generation model would arrive by the end of 2022. The Fabia Estate accounts for 34% of the outgoing Fabia's total sales and can still be configured on Skoda's UK website, with prices starting from £18,205.