Producing and delivering one million ŠKODA cars in a single year is a milestone for the Czech manufacturer, and reaffirms their international growth strategy. ŠKODA honoured the team’s outstanding contribution to the successful development over recent years by hosting the ‘Million Celebration’ at the ŠKODA Museum.
The one millionth ŠKODA vehicle produced this year ran off the production lines at the main ŠKODA plant in Mladá Boleslav on 10 December: ŠKODA Fabia 1.2 TSI/81 kW (1) in moon-white. The manufacturer has donated the anniversary car to the ‘Life for Children’ foundation. The keys were handed over yesterday evening at a ceremony in Mladá Boleslav. ŠKODA employees voted on which charity would be the worthiest recipient of the ‘million vehicle’. There were ten organisations to choose from in total.
In addition, the millionth ŠKODA customer of 2014 from the Czech Republic was welcomed during the festivities. He had ordered a ŠKODA Octavia Combi RS, 2.0 TSI (2) in rally-green metallic, and the keys were handed over to him by the Rally Champion Jan Kopecky.
“Each 1 million vehicles produced and sold are historical milestones and demonstrate the strength of the brand,” says ŠKODA CEO Prof. Dr. hc Winfried Vahland. “ŠKODA has achieved a new dimension and is firmly established as an international volume manufacturer. This success can be attributed to our model campaign, and the great performance of our 26,000 employees worldwide. The whole team is very proud of this achievement. At the same time, achieving this million in production and sales will spur us on to pick up the pace over the coming years.”
ŠKODA growth strategy is successful
By achieving one million in production and sales in 2014, the manufacturer is once again flying the banner high and highlighting their growth at the end of the year. At the heart of the growth strategy is the most comprehensive model campaign in the 119-year history of the company. Since 2010, the brand has been extensively renewing their model range and branching out into important segments – from the small ŠKODA Citigo to the new ŠKODA Fabia introduced just a few weeks ago.
“We offer the most attractive and modern ŠKODA model range of all time,” says Winfried Vahland. The model campaign’s success is reflected in the sales figures: Between 2010 and December 2014, ŠKODA’s deliveries increased by over 30%, making ŠKODA one of the world’s fastest growing volume brands.
The company’s development over the past two decades is one of the great success stories in the automotive industry. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain and joining the VW Group in April 1991, ŠKODA’s production and sales have increased six-fold. With this came the resurgence of one of the longest-established automotive brands. ŠKODA’s origins date back to the pioneering days of the car in 1895. In its rich history, the company has always delighted customers with legendary cars like the ŠKODA 860 and ŠKODA Popular Monte Carlo.
In addition to expanding the model range, one important pillar of the implemented growth strategy is entering new markets beyond Europe. Nowadays, ŠKODAs are available in over 100 countries around the world. China has been the brand’s strongest individual market since 2010, where in the first eleven months of 2014 around one quarter of all ŠKODAs produced have been sold.
1) Fabia 1,2 TSI 81 kW (110 PS): urban 6.1 l/100km, extra urban 4.0 l/100km,
combined 4.8 l/100km, CO2 emissions combined 110 g/km, CO2 efficiency class B
2) Octavia RS Combi 2,0 l TSI Green tec 162 kW (220 PS): urban 7,7 l/100km, extra
urban 5,3 l/100km, combined 6,2 l/100km, CO2 emissions combinen 142 g/km,
CO2 efficiency class C