Skoda Celebrates 14 million Vehicles

Czech car maker Skoda, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, achieved a very remarkable milestone as the 14millionth car rolled off the production lines at the Czech plant at Kvasiny earlier this week. The clebratory car is a ‘Laurin & Klement’ Superb special edition vehicle is designated for delivery to a German customer. This special edition is another milestone for the sustained growth of the automobile manufacturer which in recent years has always been on a slow but steady rise. Skoda plans to increase its worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million units per year by 2018. With a total of 879,200 units in 2011, the company sold more cars than ever in its history. This current milestone illustrates the very dynamic development of the brand and, at the same time, points toward the great significance of its affiliation with the Volkswagen Group in the year 1991. Skoda press release: “This celebratory car is an impressive expression of our growth strategy,” says ŠKODA chairman of the board, Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. “We are expanding at a high speed. Almost two thirds of the 14 million cars built by the company were produced and sold in the past 20 years, four million of which were produced in the past 5 years alone.” “We thank the entire ŠKODA team, which has made this development possible and which can rightly be proud of its achievement,” emphasises Vahland. ŠKODA began the largest model expansion of its history last year, to accomplish this goal. With Citigo and the compact sedan Rapid, sold in India, the two new model lines already celebrated their sales premieres at the end of 2011. ŠKODA wants to introduce an average of one new model to the market every six months in the coming years. The manufacturer is increasing capacity in Czech and international plants and at the same time, ŠKODA continues the consistent internationalisation of the brand, particularly focusing on the emerging markets of China, Russia and India. At the end of 2012, the compact SUV Yeti will be produced in China in cooperation with Shanghai Volkswagen. Moreover, the brand will commence production of a new compact sedan in China at the beginning of 2013. In Russia, a second production site following the one in Kaluga has been in operation since 2011. As well as this, capacities are growing in India – with the new compact sedan Rapid having been built in Pune since 2011. Milestones of the car manufacture at ŠKODA AUTO:

• January 30, 2012: 14 million automobiles since 1905
• December 2011: 1.5 million vehicles of the Octavia II type
• October 12, 2011: 10-millionth automobile produced at the plant in Mladá Boleslav
• September 2, 2011: 4-millionth MQ200 gearbox built at the plant in Mladá Boleslav
• April 8, 2009: 12 million automobiles since 1905
• July 13, 2006: 10 million automobiles since 1905 (5 million of which were manufactured since the entry of VW in 1991)
• 1991: 5 million automobiles since 1905