Complying with proposed EU emissions rules for 2025 would make hatch too pricey to be viable, says CEO
WILL RIMELL
The Skoda Fabia could be axed if upcoming Euro 7 rules make its price too unaffordable.
The new rules require the fitting of a host of emissions-cutting and
-monitoring technology for any new ICE car sold from 2025.
The Czech car maker’s stalwart supermini currently starts from £18,600 in the UK, and around €15,000 (£13,000) in mainland Europe, where a different entry trim is offered.
But boss Klaus Zellmer has told Autocar that if the current draft rules go ahead as proposed, “it will not be possible” to keep the Fabia at that affordable level.
A price of around £20,000 or more would be expected, he said, adding: “Is that still a feasible proposal for consumers? I don’t think so.”
The Volkswagen Polo, with which the Fabia shares its underpinnings, also faces the axe due to Euro 7 rules. Engineering it to comply could add as much as €5000 (£4400) to its price, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer said last November.
Current Euro 7 regulations, drawn up by the European Commission and due to come into force from 1 July 2025 for new cars and light vans, are aimed at lowering NOx emissions by 35% compared with Euro 6 rules and cutting tailpipe particulates by 13%.
They would require the fitting, as standard, of new electrically heated e-catalysts – to reduce emissions on vehicle start-up – as well as on-board diagnostic technology that will enable live monitoring of key pollutants, illuminating the engine-management light if emissions exceed limits.
The total extra cost on a light van or car will be €304 (£266) per vehicle, the Commission claims, and it has said: “This is a reform that is affordable.”
But many, such as Zellmer, have slammed this, claiming that it will cost more than the Commission believes.
“We want to respect the climate,” he said, “but if the current draft comes to reality by 2025, we would have to have technology in the cars that is either not developed yet or is so expensive that the €15,000 car will be between €18,000 and €20,000.”
He added: “Now the problem is that if you then put so much cost into a car, the car that you want to sell is difficult to sell. So people stay in their [older, more polluting] cars, which is worse.
“We need to sit together and we need to have a good plan that is good for everybody: for consumers and for the climate.”
…but an electric replacem ent is on the way
THE FABIA’S SPI
