Škoda Teams With Sculpteo, Offers 3D Printed Mini Škoda Fabia Car To Test Drivers

The life size Fabia

Sculpteo, the web-based 3D printing service and network of 3Ders, has launched another fun campaign to raise awareness of the accessibility and versatility of 3D printing. They’ve teamed up with Škoda France and the agency Shivacom France to promote 3D printing and the hot new European supermini car, the Škoda Fabia. If you’ve never heard of the Škoda Fabia, that’s because they aren’t currently being sold in the United States or Canada and probably won’t be in the foreseeable future.

Škoda Fabia, a Czech-manufactured automobile, was first produced in 1999 as a successor to an earlier model called the Felicia, which was the last car in the line to be produced solely by Škoda. Now the company is part of the Volkswagen Group and, in fact, the Fabia body is based on the platform of the Volkswagen Polo Mk4, also a supermini.

In France, mini and supermini cars are very popular, particularly in urban centers. They’re easy to park and extremely fuel efficient. Škoda wants its Fabia to become the go-to supermini in France and is promoting it with the help of Sculpteo and Shivacom. Whenever you test drive a Škoda Fabia, which is available in two different models, the Berline and the Combi, you get to customize and 3D print your very own mini supermini Fabia.

“…Before enjoying the full-size Fabia,” quips the Škoda Fabia and Sculpteo ‘Print My Fabia’ ad campaign, “you can have fun with the miniature one!”

After test driving a Škoda Fabia, potential buyers can go to the website and customize their 3D printed superminis in a process not unlike buying the real thing. On the Škoda website, you go through a similar selection process, choosing the overall color and then selecting an optional second color — white or black — for the roof. The range of colors is pretty wide, encompassing 15 body colors for 125 color combination options. You can also select from a couple of different wheel options. With the 3D printed miniatures, you get similar options and can also have your name printed on the car’s chassis.

The campaign began with Sculpteo creating 3D models of the Fabia, which was first introduced to the French auto market at the Paris Motor Show in October 2014. The great little Fabia took the “Overall Winner” and “Best Small Car” prizes at the 2015 What Car? Car of the Year awards, which certainly can’t hurt its promotional efforts.

The Print My Fabia campaign will first get underway in France but the objective is to extend to other markets in Europe. In the process of promoting the Škoda Fabia, the campaign will also inspire people to learn more about 3D printing, including how accessible it actually is via online 3D printing services like Sculpteo, which is striving to take 3D technology to the mainstream.

I think this is a seriously smart but also ingeniously playful promotional campaign, and just love the Print My Fabia concept and sites — Škoda’s and Sculpteo’s. I also recommend one video in particular: A 3D printed miniature Škoda Fabia gets launched into the air along with a video camera via a weather balloon. The little car soars over a snowy landscape, beyond the clouds and further upward until, well, watch the video, below, for the surprise ending!

What do you think of this fun 3D printing concept for these new superminis? Let us know in the Print My Fabia forum thread over at 3DPB.com. Check out that video and more photos below.