In 2019, ŠKODA AUTO constructed more than 900,000 vehicles at its Czech plants in Mladá Boleslav and Kvasiny for the first time in its history. Having built a total of 910,000 vehicles, the Czech carmaker achieved a production increase of 2.25 per cent compared to the previous year (2018: 890,000).
The ŠKODA OCTAVIA, the brand’s bestseller, single-handedly accounted for 260,000 of the units that rolled off the assembly line. In 2020, just in time for the manufacturer’s 125th anniversary, ŠKODA is entering into a new era: serial production of the first ŠKODA to be based on Volkswagen Group’s MEB modular electric car platform is set to begin at the Mladá Boleslav plant. By 2025, ŠKODA AUTO will have invested a total of two billion euros in the development of alternative drive technologies and new mobility services.
In 2019, ŠKODA AUTO produced a total of around 590,000 vehicles at its main plant in Mladá Boleslav. A whopping 260,000 units of the OCTAVIA alone were made there; production of the bestseller’s fourth generation started at the end of October. In addition, models from the FABIA, SCALA, KAMIQ and KAROQ ranges rolled off the assembly lines at the company’s headquarters. On top of that, the Czech car manufacturer also built 570,000 engines and 570,000 MQ 200 and MQ 100 gearboxes as well as 4,000 batteries and more than 2,312,000 axles in Mladá Boleslav. Up to 168,000 bodies can be given their coat each year in the new paint shop, which opened in August 2019, taking the overall painting capacity at the brand’s headquarters to 812,000 units per year. ŠKODA AUTO invested 219.6 million euros in the new building and created more than 650 new jobs. The facility is one of the most cutting-edge and eco-friendliest of its kind in Europe.
Over the past few years, the Kvasiny plant has undergone the most extensive modernisation and expansion in its history spanning more than 85 years. ŠKODA currently produces the KODIAQ large SUV, the KAROQ compact SUV and its flagship – the SUPERB – at the site, including the SUPERB iV model variant featuring plug-in hybrid drive. The first electrified production model in the company’s history is built on the same line as the SUPERBs that are driven solely by a combustion engine. The carmaker invested a total of around 12 million euros in the necessary alterations to the manufacturing processes. Production of the SUPERB iV started in September 2019.
Vrchlabí is ŠKODA’s third location in the Czech Republic. The plant opened in 1864 and celebrated its 155th anniversary last year; it has been part of ŠKODA AUTO since 1946. Initially, the manufacturer produced cars at the site, but in 2012 – as part of a profound transformation – Vrchlabí was converted from a vehicle factory into a state-of-the-art component facility. The approximately 1,000 members of staff based there built a total of around 556,000 DQ 200 automatic direct shift transmissions in 2019, which are used in ŠKODA models as well as in vehicles from other Volkswagen Group brands.
