VW-owned Skoda teases new city car ahead of Paris debut

Volkswagen’s Czech Republic-based Škoda division has published a teaser sketch that previews the next generation of its Fabia city car. Offered as both a five-door hatchback and a station wagon, the new Fabia will greet the public for the first time at the Paris Motor Show that will open its doors to the public next October.

The teaser sketch hints the next Fabia will lose the current model’s cute look in favor of a more chiseled design inspired by recent Škodas such as the Passat-sized Octavia sedan and the VisionC concept. The hatchback’s front end will feature an angular radiator grille with vertical slats and sharp headlights, while the rear end will gain C-shaped headlights and a more sculpted hatch.

Australian website Motoring reports the Fabia will be offered with a wide array of three- and four-cylinder engines borrowed from the recently-updated Volkswagen Polo. The performance-focused RS model will not be renewed due to disappointing sales, but the Czech firm will gun for premium city cars like the Fiat 500 with a trendy, highly-customizable model tentatively dubbed Fabia Monte Carlo.

The next Fabia will eschew Volkswagen’s modular MQB platform and ride on an evolution of the current model’s chassis.

Full details about the 2015 Škoda Fabia will emerge in the weeks leading up to its debut in the French capital. The hatchback is scheduled to go on sale across Europe in select global markets early next year.