Skoda Manufactures 18 Millionth Car
Published Date: 25th Jan 2016
Skoda produced its 18 Millionth car and the Milestone car was a new Skoda Superb Combi
Skoda Sets New record
Skoda has manufactured their 18 millionth vehicle since the company first started building cars in 1905. The milestone car – a ŠKODA Superb Combi in the candy-white – rolled off the production line at the Skoda plant in Kvasiny, Czech Republic. Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier, Skoda Board Member for Production Michael Oeljeklaus and the Chairman of the Trade Union KOVO, Jaroslav Povšík witnessed the occasion.
Skoda’s new CEO, Bernhard Maier, made a visit to the Skoda production site in East Bohemia for the first time ever. “Kvasiny is a production site with a great tradition and an outstanding team. You immediately sense the enthusiasm with which people carry out their tasks here. This is where automobile construction is lived, and implemented to an exemplary quality and efficiency,” explained Maier, also adding, “Today we have 18 million reasons to be proud of our employees’ performance. Without them, the success of the Skoda brand would be unimaginable.”
“Producing 18 million vehicles is an enormously high number,” explained the Chairman of the Trade Union KOVO, Jaroslav Povšík. “This milestone is an impressive demonstration of the skill our colleagues at Skoda have in car construction, and their great dedication to the company’s success over the past 120 years.”
The Kvasiny plant is currently undergoing the largest modernization and expansion in its history, for which ŠKODA will be investing around seven billion crowns. Over the coming years, the production capacity of the East Bohemian site will increase to 280,000 vehicles per year. Up to 1300 new jobs will be created in order to achieve this.
“Over the last five years, we have significantly increased the number of high-quality vehicles produced worldwide,” announced Skoda Board Member for Production, Michael Oeljeklaus. “The ŠKODA plants in the Czech Republic have made a significant contribution to this. This is the heart of our international production network. Since 1991, we have invested more than 300 billion crowns into modernizing and expanding our production facilities in the Czech Republic.”
The new pilot hall was opened during the visit to Kvasiny. 50 ŠKODA employees started work there that same day. The local team receives the first technical information that is then analysed and evaluated some three years before the production of a ŠKODA model begins. This allows any optimizations to be carried out in advance of the model being launched into series production.