Proving their success is no myth, Skoda for Europe and Ireland trotted out enough good news statistics at the Pan European launch of the Fabia Saloon in Athens this week to make a Cyclops blink.

Four hundred thousand Skoda cars sold in 2000. Year 2001 sales currently up by 16%, and a forecast of 460,000 unit sales for the entire year. Skoda sales in Ireland up by 58% in 2000, and currently showing a 6% increase to date in a market that’s dipped by 30% on Y2K figures.

Skoda Sales Manager in Ireland Colin Sheridan confidently reckons when the checks and balances are sorted out Skoda could grow their Irish market share by another 10% before the year is out.

With a steady stream of new product lines (new vehicles, new body variants and new engines) in the offing, Sheridan predicts the upward curve to continue throughout 2001. The first of the new models arrived here earlier in the year in the shape of the Fabia Combi (estate). The third scheduled is the B5 flagship for next February. Shown in Geneva as the Montreux - that name will be binned in favour of some Bohemian soundbyte badging by the time it reappears in Frankfurt in September.

Sandwiched in between this pair is the delectable Fabia Sedan (saloon ... why are they Americanising it?). On a what you need to know basis, Fabia sedan is 4222mm long. It sports three levels of trim, four doors, a big boot, and six engine options - the same as the Fabia Hatchback.

Guesstimated prices will kick in at IR£10,500 to IR£10,700, ex works. Supplies will trickle into Ireland during the first week of May in time for a major mid-month dealer launch. Bad news is that supplies for the rest of the year are limited to 600 units - but 1,400 more are in the pipeline for 2002 - where this newcomer will account for 52% of entire Fabia sales.

No coil-sprung cat to look at, Skoda’s little limousine is more of your baby St. Bernard. And all the better for it. Those chunky looks cloak a spacious and comfortable interior, a cracking good boot, lots of techno stuff and a family of fine engines. No bull! Fabia Sedan is solid, dependable, marvellous value for money, and it’s capable of holding its residuals better than most. And won’t the Irish punters just love it?

Platform and engines are shared with the next-generation Volkswagen Polo and, of course, with its own Skoda sisters. Styling and three trim levels - Classic, Comfort and Elegance are also shared with the hatchback and the Combi.

All models, including the entry level Classic, have a driver’s airbag, front seat belt pretensioners, an immobiliser, electro-hydraulic power steering, a tilt adjustable steering wheel, pollen filter, split rear seats, remote boot release, lights on acoustic signal and delayed courtesy lights. Lights also switch off automatically after 30 minutes if accidentally left on.

Passenger airbag, fog lights, central locking with deadlocks, height adjustable driver’s seat, electric front windows, an original and helpful detail: tipping luggage hooks for hanging the shopping bags, and a power socket in the boot make up the Comfort offerings.

Elegance-badged sedans add on aircon with cooled dashboard compartments, electric rear (and front) windows, electric door mirrors, tipping luggage hooks , heated front seats, remote controlled central locking, 14" light-alloys, (15" with 2.0 litre MPI engine) and lots of chrome interior detailing. Optional extras include CD changer, electric sunroof, storage nets, parking sensors, etc.

For those who like a separate cargo department, Skoda Fabia Sedan provides a pretty cavernous boot (438 litres) comparable with many medium-sized cars. Split rear seats increase cargo capacity to 789 litres. Distance between the wheel arches is 974mm, and the boot sill is only 596mm above the road or 155mm lower than that for the actual boot floor - which makes loading and unloading extremely easy.

Four petrol (three 1.4 litre units - 68bhp, 75bhp and 101bhp) and a 115bhp 2.0 litre powerplant) and two diesel engines (64bhp, 1.9 SDi and a 101bhp, 1.9 TDi) make up the Skoda powertrain family.

Looking forward to a couple of extended tests over the next few months. However, brief driving impressions in 101bhp 1.4 litre and 1.9 TDi models suggest this is another Skoda gem. Both machines handled themselves with poise. Steering was perfectly weighted, Gearchange was better than we find in the VW Golf, and those engines responded readily and eagerly to any promptings we cared to administer as we highwayed and coasted along some well-signposted but bloody awful roads from Athens to the Sounio Temple of Poseidon and back.

Did I say bloody awful? Yeah. These Hellenic highways are Irish-like in skewed camber and tarmac texture and marginally only shaded ours in undulations and potholes. Could this be where our road planners head for their annual holliers?

On second thoughts, no. They’re well ahead of us on motorway construction. The Athens Metro is already open for business - and the link to the new airport is well underway. Luas, or Zeus, be praised. And the one-eyed Cyclops is who’s still planning Ireland’s roads, it seems.