Skoda Beefs Up Fabia Combi With New Scoutline Version

Like the appearance of an SUV, but don’t need the big form that tends to go with it? There are a number of automakers now producing standard passenger cars with rugged looks. Like Skoda, for example, which has just rolled out a Scoutline version of the latest Fabia Combi.

Though it may be a far cry from, say, an Audi Allroad or Volvo Cross Country, the new Skoda Fabia Combi Scoutline wears a number of cosmetic enhancements to give it a bit more of a rough-and-tumble look.

Those include matte-black and silver lower body cladding – including the front and rear bumpers, side sills, and wheel arches – as well as the door mirror caps and roof rails. Inside those beefed-up fenders sit a unique set of 16-inch (or available 17-inch) alloys.

Otherwise, this is essentially the same as any other version of the subcompact Fabia wagon, and offers the same powertrain options: all 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines, burning either gasoline or (despite the scandals surrounding its parent Volkswagen Group) diesel fuel. It just looks a bit more rugged, is all. Which may be just what some customers want. At least Skoda seems to think so, at any rate.

Also, this a similar transformation to that applied by the Czech automaker to other models in its lineup, including the Rapid Spaceback that’s soon to be replaced by the new Scala. But it stops short of the full Scout treatment available on the Octavia, Karoq, and Kodiaq – versions that take this rugged approach way more seriously.