Skoda, 20 Years Under VW Rule

On April 16, 1991, Czech automaker Skoda entered a new chapter of its life, one that has linked its destiny of that of German group Volkswagen ever since. In these past 20 years, Skoda has managed to secure a strong foothold, mainly in central and eastern Europe, as a brand that offers much and asks less so.

The move under the Volkswagen umbrella was probably one of the smartest made by the Czech producer, its sales having quadrupled since 1991. This achievement was made possible by the German's push for new models to complete the lineup: at the time of the takeover, Skoda had only one product in the range, the Favorit, whereas today it offers five model series: Fabia, Octavia, Roomster, Yeti, and Superb.

Plans for the future are as great as the ones set by the mother group. To help Volkswagen become the biggest group on the market by 2018, Skoda plans to sell 1.5 million units per year at the time of the deadline (a number to be reached with both existing models and new ones).

By comparison, in the first quarter of the current year, Skoda managed to sell 217,100 cars, a hefty increase of 21.4 percent over the same three months of last year.

“Together, Skoda and Volkswagen have written a chapter of economic history. Back then, 20 years ago, few people believed in such a brilliant development of this brand. And at the time, hardly anybody thought it possible for Czechs and Germans to work together so well and in such a cooperative manner,” said Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn.