Best Priced Diesel Car – Maruti Swift Diesel versus Skoda Fabia

Hi Friend,

In terms of technical specifications, Maruti Swift Diesel is a four cylinder car whereas Skoda Fabia is a three cylinder car but both are equivalent in terms of power and performance. Rather, Fabia is approximately 1 lakh or more costlier than Swift.

Of course Skoda Fabia's built quality and the brand name itself market it. In addition to that, high-end multi jet engine with all the qualities makes Fabia the superstar, but I am not quite sure of one thing that whether Indian market will accept 6.5 to 7 lakhs hatch of Fabia? One more thing, we need to consider here is the brand image. Maruti has got a good reach across India. Though Fabia is technically better than Swift, it cannot beat Swift in sales.

The Swift Diesel is already a hit and has gone a long way. Both cars have got good engineering speculations. Though I believe that Fabia will be costlier to purchase and maintain. Considering these two factors, Swift is outperforming Fabia in sales chart. The Fabia has a less powerful engine than Swift and the version available abroad has lower performance than our Swift here. Hence, I guess Swift will leave no space for the Skoda to sell in Indian market. I really doubt that Skoda will come out as a superstar mainly because first the engines of Fabia will cost more and second Skoda will not be able to cash on excise duty cut which applies to petrol car less than 1200 cc and diesel cars less than 1500 cc, besides that is the whole reason why Maruti launched sub 1500 cc diesel engine, though they initially planned 1600 cc engine for it.

Now the big question comes that how Fabia is compared with Swift. The Swift looks better and the main question is the price. The basic version of the Fabia costs around 7,50,000 on road as compared to 580,000 for the VDI + ABS for Swift.

The top end in the Fabia diesel goes above 9 lakhs and surprisingly Skoda has only one variant in Petrol, i.e., the top end which costs around 8 lakhs.

In any event, with 7.55 lakhs as the starting price, Fabia is going to find it hard to eat much into the Swift's sales.

Besides that, Fabia Diesel is a serious competition to Swift. Yes, price is an advantage for Swift and maintenance too. It seems the price of the Skoda Fabia is a big letdown, as it starts from 7,50,000 lakhs.

There are four variants of Fabia. The cheapest variant is Fabia Active, after that comes Fabia Classic, Fabia Ambiente, and Fabia Elegance. Fabia Active does not have power windows. Skoda realized that people have problems with the pricing when compared to Swift, so they came up with a cheaper one, i.e., Active.

And between, petrol cars will obviously be cheaper than diesel cars. That is how it works. With diesel, you get better fuel efficiency but a rougher ride and petrol is smoother. Those who go for diesel pay more initially but it is cheaper in the long run.

The prices are way too high for Fabia. I think Skoda got the pricing for Fabia wrong. One cannot sell a hatchback for 8 lakhs here in India. I think they are competing with Honda City, Hyundai Verna, and Maruti SX4 in terms of price.

Swift Diesel is more powerful and better.

1. 1.3L DOHC DdiS-Diesel. 2. Displacement is 1248cc. 3. Power is 75 PS at 4000 rpm. 4. Torque is 190 Nm at 2000 rpm. 5. Valve Mechanism is DOHC. 6. Bore is 69.6 mm. 7. Stroke is 82 mm. 8. Compression Ratio is 17.6:1. 9. Number of cylinders = four cylinders. 10. Cylinder Configuration is Inline. 11. Valves per cylinder = four valves.

Besides this, we are not just sitting on the engine without wheels and driving it, we are driving the whole car. There are many other things to it, also considering performance after some time, when the engine is not new. My neighbor who is a chartered accountant has both, Swift Diesel for himself and Fabia for his wife. They know very well how capable each one is.

So build, quality, safety, comfort, ease of use, good space planning, better tires, more planted feel, etc. are not as important as PRICE for most of the people in India. It is just important for a few people. Maybe it is only for high upper class people.

One more thing to add is that a Swift could be serviced with a number of Maruti Service Centers in India. In case of Skoda, try to get in touch with their service other than the urban locales and you will feel the difference. Here comes Maruti's biggest advantage which is their service network and cost of spares in the long run. The Skoda's service centers are less in India when compared to Maruti.

Yes Swift's engine is the best and Fabia is also not bad, as it comes with a pump duse technology. Do not see the bhp and torque, it is only a number game. At the end of the day if you are comfortable and the car you travel fetched you a good brand image that is all. So I think the best diesel car when compared with pricing, service centers, and everything else, Maruti Swift is better and ROCKS long time..............