9 replies to this topic

[Revmaster]

Overdrive, one of the leading car and bikes magazines in the country, has managed to take some of the clearest pictures yet of the upcoming Skoda Fabia sedan of the Rapid. The new car, draped with heavy camouflage painted in black twirls over white background seems peculiarly similar to the Vento in terms of proportions. The resemblance becomes even more evident when you look at the car in profile. A prominent shoulder line, and a pronounced crease slightly above the door sills running across the doors – gives away Rapid’s relation with the Vento. The wheel arches too have a chiseled, muscular look to them, surrounding handsome looking five-spoke alloy wheels

The grille of the car, as revealed by these spy images, is similar to that of the Fabia, and so is the central air-dam on the bumper. This hints at no major departure from the current design philosophy for the new model. It’s notable that the Rapid was expected to draw heavily from the Vision D concept shown in the Geneva 2011 Show, but Skoda seem to have chosen the safer route of sharing the design with the Fabia, and its parts bin with the Vento.

The exterior proportions also hint at a capacious boot, which is always a great thing to have in the Indian market. The length of the car suggests reasonable space for the backbenchers, which should be par with the segment.

Under the hoot, the 1.6-liter petrol and diesel engines found on the Vento will do the propelling duty. Both the engines produce 105PS of peak power, but the diesel produces around 100 units more of torque at 250Nm.
We can expect a DSG AT variant for the Rapid too, just like the Vento. The Vento is not available with the auto transmission for the diesel variant. Hopefully the Rapid will have the option.

Prices, as you would reckon, are still guesswork, but following the trend across all VW and Skoda models in various segments, the Rapid, in all probability will be priced lower than its German cousin. The margin, won’t be too much, but there would certainly be a difference. No clarity on launch dates either, but the 2012 Delhi Expo should be a terrific platform for the car to make a debut. here are some pics, head over to Overdrive.infor more images of the car

[NikhilB]

Going by VW Corporate's strategy of pricing the czechs half a segment below the VWs, we can expect this to be very competitively priced. Especially since the current Fabia is heavily localized.

[BLR Nandu]

Though the body lines are similar as Vento, I would expect the changes in the front and rear, which would be in line with Skoda DNA. Then I would expect more rear space as Fabia. It would be priced lil bit lower than Vento as the difference between Polo and Fabia.

[sheelpriye]

Most Vento P buyers might ditch Vento P in favor of this Car's diesel.

[Revmaster]

Just in. Skoda, Fabia sedan will not be called the Rapid. It will be called the Lauretta.
Here's more info. http://motoroids.com...-not-rapid.html

[Yatharth]

From what I feel, the car will be positioned at a price very similar and just a couple of grands below VW Vento of similar specced models. (Keeping in mind Fabia-Polo pricing). What I am more interested in knowing and eager to see is the after sales package pricing of this car. It will be interesting to see what kind of a job Skoda does with that. We already have horror stories of Skoda's After Sales doing rounds all over the web and this friend of mine says maintaining his Laura diesel is turning out to be almost as expensive as his mom's Bimmer 3 series. And the segment where this new Skoda is aiming at is quite a bit price conscious. What with Ford, Honda, Hyundai working on and improving their After Sales Services like anything,

Regards.

[NikhilB]

The sedan has begun production at the Aurangabad factory.
The Skoda Global CEO was in the country to flag it off, last week.

Looks like we could get a launch during the festive season.

[Yatharth]

From whatever I know, the launch is slated to be done sometime by mid-november.

[Revmaster]