Skoda's new Fabia uses the VW Group's new PQ24 platform. The Skoda Fabia is a small car with a roomy interior.

Wilfried Bockelmann, Member of the Board of Management, Technical Management, played a key role in the development of Fabia. Interviewed by AEI in Frankfurt, he said: "The platform for the Fabia is PQ24 — P for platform, Q (German) for transverse (engine), 2 for AO class, and 4 for fourth generation. The body is AO4. The lead developer of the platform is Wolfsburg. The first workshop discussions — we call them 'bubbleups' — were in February 1996. The priorities for Fabia were value for money with the right techniques. We had to make sure it was affordable but with all the state-of-the-art techniques. That was the main goal — as good as the Golf platform but a lot cheaper." Torsional stiffness was also a priority. VW Group products are now renowned for their stiffness: "With Fabia, we have about 15,000 N•m/° of torsion."

Bockelmann is cautious about talking of future plans and did not confirm specifically that a V8 Skoda is in the pipeline. However, he said: "If we were to make a fourth car line, it would not be a smaller one." He also underlined that to meet changing market demands driven by economic shifts, it is also necessary to have a wide engine range: "We have seven engine choices for this car and you need to have even more to switch between large and small cars."

Skoda now makes the Fabia, Octavia, and Felicia, but the Felicia is an aging design that will essentially be replaced by Fabia. Bockelmann made it clear that he believes the company's car range cannot "stand solid" on two model lines, so a new large Skoda looks a certainty. Skoda has set up a totally new press shop and assembly line for the Fabia at its Mlada Boleslav facility in the Czech Republic, but the paint shop is shared with the larger Octavia. Said Bockelmann: "Production of Fabia started in August and our goal is 1200 units a day. We phased in very slowly, starting early with less than 10 cars per shift. We ramped up just following the quality rules." The Fabia has front MacPherson struts with triangle control arms and a torsion stabilizer. Rack-and-pinion steering has an energy- and weight-saving electrohydraulic power assistance system on all versions except the 1.0-L base engine. The system is connected through a CAN bus to an engine electronic control unit that supplies speed data to optimize power assistance. Rear suspension uses a compound-link crank axle. It has been designed to require minimal space and facilitate trunk size. Some Fabia variants have an anti-skid system, and an electronic stabilization system will become available.

Stuart Birch