Cheaper 2024 Skoda Fabia city car coming, but it won’t cost less than $30,000

A more affordable version of the 2024 Skoda Fabia city hatch is due to join the range this July, two years after the new-generation model launched with a $38,000 drive-away price double that of its predecessor.

However Skoda Australia has cautioned the new variant will not return to the sub-$20,000 price bracket occupied by the previous Fabia, which was discontinued in 2021 – nor will it even cost less than $30,000.

It follows Toyota's decision to axe the regular petrol version of the Yaris city hatch – its last sub-$30,000 drive-away passenger car – and go all-in on hybrid technology.

MORE: Skoda Australia defends decision to double the price of its smallest car

Due in showrooms in July, the new 'entry' Fabia will slot beneath Monte Carlo Edition 150 that has been the only variant available since the current generation was introduced in 2022.

Despite launching with a drive-away price of $37,990 – which later rose to $38,990 – the Czech car maker says it has always had enough demand to fill the limited slots on the production line available.

«It's been going well, we've had it in the offer for two years and we've never had a situation where we had more production available to us that we could sell, so it [has been] nice,» Skoda Australia director Michael Irmer told media.

«It is actually one of the shortest-supplied cars we've run for long periods of these two years, so now is the right time to start rolling out the mid-tier spec, which for us is the entry [grade].»

MORE: 2023 Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo review

Mr Irmer told Drive the new 'entry' Fabia will have a specification level expected of a Style variant in other Skoda model ranges, but the new version of the city car is likely to go by a different name locally.

While it will be cheaper than the Monte Carlo Edition 150, the new variant is still estimated to be priced from about $33,000 drive-away.

The previous Skoda Fabia left showrooms in 2021 priced from $24,990 to $28,990 drive-away – and prior to the pandemic could be had for $17,490 drive-away with a manual transmission.

The latest model is a larger car with much more convenience equipment, technology, and safety features – and in the Monte Carlo Edition 150, uses