The Chinese are preparing their new Skoda Fabia. It will destroy it with everything it boasts, it will be an even bigger and cheaper car
an hour ago | Petr Prokopec
Photo: MG Motor
The new Fabia intends to make a little of itself, because the VW concern, pushing for electromobility, will only offer it as a less usable car with almost twice the price. The Chinese controlling MG will bet on more traditional technology and get away with the price hundreds of thousands cheaper, even if they come with an even bigger car.
According to statistics, the Karlovy Vary region is the poorest in the Czech Republic, its residents receive an average of 11,000 crowns less than people in Prague. With a bit of exaggeration, we can say that for some people even a roll for 2.90 CZK will be expensive. So would you open a bakery and pastry shop in these places, offering a croissant for 50 crowns and a pinwheel for a hundred? Probably not, even if you managed to lure the local rich. Even they are not curious about the same thing every day.
Now put Europe in place of the Czech Republic, virtually any Eastern country in place of the Karlovy Vary region, and the Volkswagen concern in place of the aforementioned bakery. Or any other car company blindly desiring pure electromobility. It is pushed by politics, but for customers it is more like that one hundred-crown pinwheel, and a spoiled one at that – it can only look good, it’s not much to enjoy anyway. So, if the Germans really intend to make their plans a reality, then they must prepare one hundred percent for the fall in sales. Chinese brands are starting to penetrate the old continent more and more, which apparently have not lost their judgment and understand that more people will still be interested in rolls.
The traditional British brand MG, which is controlled by the Chinese giant SAIC, has been working hard on the third generation of the MG3 model for some time now. The approximately 4.1-meter hatchback, i.e. an even larger version of the Škoda Fabia, is due to arrive next year. However, we should not expect it in the electric version, instead the main device will be a combination of a four-cylinder one-five, an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2.1 kWh. The system will then offer 109 combustion and 95 electric horses, i.e. relatively high performance.
Of course, it is still too early for the price, but the size of the battery will be one of the reasons why the British-Chinese hatchback will continue to stick to the ground. At the current price of 13,820 pounds (approx. 391,000 CZK), which, by the way, is only a few hundred crowns higher than the price for which the Dacia Sandero can be had in the country, it will not start, but over the target of 17,000 GBP (482,000 crowns) it should not tip over. And this is not only bad news for the VW concern, because for many people the Germans will not have anything to offer, while the Chinese will.
In order not to speak in general terms, we can immediately mention the ID.2all concept, which will result in production electric cars from VW, Škoda and Cupra. The cheapest version should start around 600,000 crowns, i.e. significantly higher than the MG3. At the same time, there will be no worries about range. In addition, the carmaker does not intend to send any bare-bones to the market, so it will already be possible to count on a pair of 12.3-inch displays as standard, one of which will be used for multimedia.
This is exactly what the Chinese threat looks like, which the head of the concern, Oliver Blume, downplays. That’s a look that may end up breaking his neck. It is enough to realize that people already consider such a basic Fabia for 369,900 CZK to be too expensive. However, its electric successor will start slowly at double that, i.e. even higher than where the top Monte Carlo equipment ends today. So will it really sell like hot cakes?
The Chinese also indicate that, depending on the conditions of individual markets, they will also come with other power units, this time purely gasoline or at most mild-hybrid. In the final, they will actually offer those rolls even at a reduced price. But VW still intends to stick to its plan, most likely intending to keep banging its head on the concrete wall until its skull cracks. And he is not alone, the management not only of MG can thus rub their hands over what Europe has gotten itself into.
The existing MG3 currently starts at 391,000 CZK in Britain, i.e. only six hundred crowns more than the Dacia Sandero, even though it is a bigger car than the Skoda Fabia. Its new generation, even with a hybrid system, should not cost more than 482,000 CZK. On the other hand, VW wants to deploy an electric car that is far less usable for more than 600,000 crowns. This really smacks of suicidal tendencies. Photo: MG Motor
Source: Carscoops
Petr Prokopec
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2023-09-09 07:12:09
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