Skoda Fabia II pricing announced (UK)

Prices for the all-new Skoda Fabia supermini will start at a shade under £8000 when it goes on sale on 17 May.

The bottom-of-the-range 1.2-litre 6v car will cost £7990, only £420 more than the same version of the old car, but with more kit. At the other end of the range prices have risen much more, but so have specifications.

Where the old Fabia came in Mercedes-like Classic, Ambience, Elegance and Sport trims, the new one comes as either the 1, 2 or 3.

All models get standard front and side airbags (the latter was previously an option), a height and reach adjustable wheel, central locking, electric front windows, a passenger airbag deactivation switch and a CD radio with four speakers and a socket for MP3 players.

Move up to the Fabia 2, and you get 15-inch alloys instead of steel wheels, remote central locking, air-con, halogen lights, electric door mirrors and an extra four speakers, all for £1000 over the cost of the 1.

For an extra £1160 over the 2, the Fabia 3 gets the kind of kit normally found only on bigger cars, including 16-inch alloys, climate control, curtain airbags, cruise control, front fog lights and rear parking sensors.

With that kind of kit, the range-topping 1.9-litre 103bhp TDi Fabia 3 costs £13,015; more than the old 128bhp vRS. The new vRS won’t arrive until 2008. It’s likely to offer come as both a turbodiesel and also a 1.4-litre petrol, using VW’s turbocharged and supercharged TSI engine. The old Fabia estate soldiers on until a new version arrives in 2008.