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Skoda is a brand with a long tradition in motorsports and this has inspired Czech designer Pavel Hruby to draw a study of a modern Skoda world rally car. Hruby took inspiration from the Skoda Vision D Concept shown by the Czech brand at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

The VW Group’s subsidiary was not involved in any way in this project, with the sketch having been commissioned by Czech Magazine AutoDesign&Styling. The Skoda Vision WRC project shows Hruby's ideas of what a new rally model from the Czech automaker could look like. Based on the new design language launched by the Vision D concept, the rally car features the new corporate grille, underlined by a massive air intake in the lower part of the bumper.

Volkswagen Group's new strategy for Skoda is beginning to show its first results. In order to avoid competition between VW and Skoda products and to get a piece of the low-cost market, the German company’s plans for the Czech automaker include a new affordable model.

According to reports from the UK, Skoda has confirmed that the new addition will be a small sedan positioned between the Fabia supermini and the Octavia and will target developing markets. The sedan, which could be a competitor to Renault’s Dacia Logan, is scheduled for launch in 2012, but first Skoda will introduce a city car based on Volkswagen’s forthcoming Up series.

The VW Group’s Czech subsidiary Skoda has unveiled the Fabia R2, a new race-spec mode intended for the popular R2 rally category. Based on the series production Fabia, the R2 features significant changes to the engine, chassis, suspension and gearbox.

Skoda's offerings at the 2011 Geneva Salon include a new special edition version of the Fabia supermini that is said to have been created to celebrate 100 years of the Monte Carlo Rally, and commemorate the 110 year anniversary of the brand's motorsport efforts.

Skoda seems to be shedding its old style language for a new bolder corporate design direction. The aim is to highlight Skoda's green line up while differentiating the brand from others in the Volkswagen group. The VisionD is the first such concept car under this new design direction, the overall effect is a simple, clean design that is to feature in all future Skoda cars.

Making its world premiere at the 81st Geneva International Motor Show is the Skoda VisionD, a concept model that previews the brand's new design direction and is the first vehicle to wear Skoda's new logo.

The VisionD concept car takes the form of a sharp-looking five-door hatchback. Skoda claims the long wheelbase and short overhangs allow for above-average interior space, while the dynamic roof line offers the car a “high degree of visual majesty”. The fluent integration of the tailgate into the car's overall line and the absence of a third latteral glass give the hatchback a dynamic appearance.

The presentation of an as-of-yet unnamed concept model will be the highlight of Skoda's Geneva Motor Show booth. For now, the Czech automaker is keeping the name and photos of the car to itself, but the company said that the study will reflect the brand's new design language that will be applied in the next generation of models. Read more »

While competing in the Ronde de Andorra rally in Italy, Polish Formula 1 star Robert Kubica was involved in a horrendous crash on Sunday, as he lost control of his Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car and left the road at high speed. The Lotus-Renault team driver was airlifted from the scene and underwent successful emergency surgery at the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure.

Kubica has suffered multiple fractures to his right arm and hand with initial reports saying that he could lose the functionality of his limb. Fortunately, the operation went well, according to Dr. Mario Igor Rosello, who told reporters that Kubica, awakened form an induced coma, was able to move his fingers, which is “an encouraging sign for the rest of the recovery process”.

VW Group subsidiary Skoda is celebrating the 100 years of the Monte Carlo Rally as well as its own 110 year-long involvement in motorsports with the presentation of the Fabia Monte Carlo, a special edition version of the five-door hatchback model with bespoke exterior and interior styling cues.

The once ailing Skoda brand is turning out to be a solid investment for the Volkswagen Group as the Czech automaker is breaking one sales record after the other. In the year that just passed on, Skoda Auto recorded is best-ever sales results delivering 762,000 vehicles, which represents an increase of 11.5% over 2009 when it sold 684,200 units. Furthermore, the company broke the threshold of three quarters of a million vehicles sold in a single year for the first time in its history.

After focusing on the 'Mean Green' machine first, Skoda has now released a follow-up video clip documenting the fictional bad boy crew that builds the Fabia vRS hot-hatch in the firm's latest commercial on the car for the United Kingdom. The new campaign takes a darker but equally humorous twist on the Fabia’s ‘Made of Lovely Stuff’ proposition which was made famous by the 2007 Fabia ‘Cake’ commercial. You can watch the new ad in the video after the jump.

In celebration of the International Rally Championship (IRC) title won by its Fabia S2000, Skoda has rolled out a limited-run edition version of its road-going Fabia RS hot hatch dressed in the firm's racing colors. All 200 examples of the car will be painted in a Rally Green finish with a white roof, white alloy wheels and stickers from the rally-spec S2000 model.

The DSG works with the TSI and XDS. Clever car, the latest Skoda Fabia VRS hot hatch.

The engine for this Scrabble board on wheels is a petrol fuelled 1.4-litre TSI and benefits from both a supercharger and a turbocharger, replacing the turbodiesel unit which helped the previous generation Skoda Fabia VRS gain something of a cult following for its blend of economy and performance. The stats certainly look promising: 180bhp, 184lb ft of torque, 0-62mph in 7.3sec and a 139mph top speed go hand-in-hand with 45.6mpg economy and a 148g/km CO2 figure. This is all channelled through the DSG seven-speed robotised manual gearbox, itself capable of working in full auto mode or via a pair of steering wheel mounted paddles. No traditional manual gearbox is offered.

The final important piece of technology as far as the "Skoda Fabia VRS "hot hatch aspirations are concerned is XDS, an electronic limited slip differential that attempts to mimic its mechanical cousin without the associated weight or cost, so that rather than the inside wheel spinning away power in low grip conditions, torque is transferred to the outside wheel and into forward motion.
The interesting thing here is that everything up to this point can apply equally to the Seat Ibiza Cupra, VW Polo GTI, VW Scirocco 1.4 TSI or even the soon to be launched Audi A1 1.4 TFSI. Such is the way with platform and technology sharing within the VW Group. It's not that the Skoda Fabia VRS is aurally unappealing, just lacking a bit of character.

Initial bite at the front end isn't best in class, but once locked on line a combination of mechanical grip and clever electronics allow some deeply impressive cornering speeds. So let's add one more acronym to that list, because given the prices of the other VW Group products that share its hardware the latest Skoda Fabia VRS represents excellent VFM.

This is the all-new Skoda Fabia VRS, the 140mph hot hatch inspired by the Skoda S2000 rally car competing around the globe. You will also be able to buy an equally rapid Skoda Fabia VRS estate.

Starting from £15,700, the Skoda Fabia VRS is cheaper than the Mini Cooper S, Volkswagen Polo GTI and Ford Fiesta S1600, but offers just as much speed and more standard equipment.
Powered by an award-winning 1.4-litre TSI engine, the Fabia vRS has both a supercharger and turbocharger, to give it low-down grunt and top-end power. It’s a radical departure from the 2003 Skoda Fabia VRS, which was a pioneering diesel hot hatch with 130bhp, a huge 236lb/ft of pulling power and a manual six-speed gearbox. The Skoda Fabia VRS features a system called XDS, which precisely brakes an inside front wheel if the car is being asked to corner too hard. Standard specification includes 17-inch alloy wheels, 3-spoke multi-function leather steering wheel with paddle shifts, eight stereo speakers, alarm, electric front windows, electric and heated door mirrors, LED daytime running lights, air conditioning, trip computer, iPod/MP3 player connection, sports seats, hill hold control, tyre pressure monitor and tinted rear windows. In Skoda’s latest green paintwork with a black roof and grey alloy wheels, the "Skoda Fabia VRS" is the boldest car Skoda sells.

Safety kit includes ABS, stability control, traction control, XDS, Isofix in the outer rear seats and driver, passenger and side curtain airbags.

The first Skoda Fabia VRS had the unique selling point of being a diesel hot hatch, putting it on the map.

We try Skodas new Fabia vRS hot hatch, with a turbo- and supercharged engine and DSG gearbox
The replacement for the original diesel-engined Skoda Fabia VRS, although this one is no oil-burner. Instead it’s fitted with a 1.4-litre turbo-charged and supercharged petrol unit, which delivers 178bhp and makes it the most powerful and fastest Fabia ever. The supercharger gets you up and running giving the small engine plenty of low-down punch. The Skoda Fabia VRS is also fitted with a seven-speed DSG gearbox as standard.

What’s it like to drive?
If you are coming from a Renaultsport background you will probably be a little disappointed, but if your starting point was a Citroen DS3 then you’d be quite pleased by the dynamics as the Skoda Fabia VRS falls neatly between the French pair.

As Skoda is enjoying its best year on record, the VW Group-owned company wants to build on the momentum by launching a new TV campaign for the Fabia vRS hot hatch. The new ad, which is meant to show the darker side of the 180-horsepower-strong hatch, features the "Made from Meaner Stuff" tagline. There will be two versions of the TV commercial, a short 30 second ad and an uncut, 60 second advert.

Just today, we learned that Skoda delivered a record number of vehicles in the first nine months of 2010, increasing its operating profit by a whopping 64%. This is what most people know about the Czech automaker; that it has been a wild success since Volkswagen took over the reins of the company. But there are others -myself included- who think the real glory of Skoda lies in its past.

[Updated] This year's edition of the Paris show will see the VW Group's successful Skoda brand unveiling its first-ever electric-powered vehicle called the Octavia Green E Line. Skoda says it is planning to create a special test fleet of Octavias Green E Line in 2011 with the goal of obtaining additional information relevant to the further development of the electric drive.