FLIGHT THROUGH THE ŠKODA WORLD

AROUND THE WORLD

KVASINY TO PROVIDE

VEHICLES TO PEOPLE IN NEED

COUNTRIES WITH A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN ŠKODA SALES IN MARCH 2019

IN PERCENT COMPARED WITH MARCH 2018

114,200

TOTAL NUMBER OF

VEHICLES SOLD IN

MARCH 2019

Switzerland ↗ 48 %

Malta ↗ 50 %

Lithuania ↗ 55 %

Egypt ↗ 62 %

Belarus ↗ 69 %

Ukraine ↗ 99 %

Kazakhstan ↗ 167 %

The brand will provide seven ŠKODA

OCTAVIAs to social service and

welfare providers in the surroundings of the

Kvasiny plant. The objective is to support

mobility in social services as part of

ŠKODA’s social responsibility strategy,

specifically in projects aimed at increasing

the attractiveness of the Kvasiny region.

ŠKODA AUTO provides support worth tens

of millions of Czech crowns to such projects.

The new cars, which are expected to make

life easier for social workers in the foothills

of the Orlické Mountains, will be provided to

the Setkání Hospice in Rychnov nad

Kněžnou, a youth social care centre in

Kvasiny, a mental health centre in Rychnov

nad Kněžnou, a social service centre

in Kvasiny and social service providers in

Dobruška, Rokytnice v Orlických horách

and Vamberk.

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ŠKODA WINS IT PROJECT

OF THE YEAR AWARD

On 21 March, representatives of

Press Shop Maintenance and

Production and Logistics IT received the

main award at the 16th edition of the IT

Project of the Year, a competition held by

the Czech Association of IT Managers

(CACIO). The awards are given to IT

projects by an expert jury made up of IT

managers of major companies and academics. The jury selected “Smart Maintenance at ŠKODA AUTO” as the best IT

project because of its demonstrable

benefits for end users, its scope and the

speed of its implementation. Modern IT

tools enable the Maintenance department

to put reports on production equipment

statuses online, which has led to an

increase in the utilisation rate of the press

lines. This award is another piece of

evidence that the process of production

digitisation is continuing successfully.

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Algeria ↗ 189 %

SCALA IS ARRIVING

ŠKODA delivered 307,600 vehicles to customers

worldwide in the first quarter of 2019, 2.9 percent

fewer than the record-breaking sales achieved

in the same period last year. On the other hand,

the brand increased its global market share by

3.3 percent over the same period. The first quarter of the year saw ŠKODA grow substantially in

Western Europe (5.8%), Eastern Europe (12.5%)

and Russia (9.1%). The overall slump in the Chinese passenger car market affected the brand’s

22

THE SAIC VOLKSWAGEN

PLANT IN CHANGSHA

HAS PRODUCED

ŠKODA’S 22-MILLIONTH

VEHICLE, A KODIAQ GT

IN VELVET RED.

global deliveries in March as well. The carmaker

is now expecting strong growth impulses from

the SCALA, a new compact vehicle the brand

started delivering to customers in April. “Despite

the challenges expected in some of the important growth markets, our global share remains

stable. This positive start shows clearly that our

attractive product portfolio is a great success all

over the world”, says Alain Favey, Board Member

for Sales and Marketing.

NEW STUDENT CAR

UNDER DEVELOPMENT

Twenty-nine male and six female

students of the SOU (ŠKODA Apprenticeship Centre) are currently working on the

sixth edition of the Azubi Car project.

Supported by experienced engineers and

staff members from ŠKODA’s Technological

Development, Design and Production

departments, the team is turning a KODIAQ

into a modern and unique two-door pick-up.

The choice of this model highlights its

importance to ŠKODA, and the student car’s

robust wheels, sharp edges and sculpture-like shapes show that the pure and

highly emotional design of the brand’s

biggest SUV still offers loads of space for

creativity. The sixth student car produced

under the Azubi project, which has been

running since 2014, will be presented to the

public in June.

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VW GROUP TO MERGE

ITS INDIAN BRANDS

In early April, the VW Group

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announced its plan to merge three

India-based car manufacturers: Volkswagen India Private Ltd. (VWIPL), Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Ltd. (NSC)

and ŠKODA AUTO India Private Ltd.

(SAIPL). The merger has already been

approved by the Boards of the three

companies concerned and is now subject

to approval by Indian authorities. This

measure is expected to increase the

efficiency of synergies required for the

Group to grow further in India, an important growth market. The Group brands

present in India – Volkswagen, ŠKODA,

Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini – will

maintain their identities, sales networks

and customer programmes. Under a joint

Indian market strategy, all these brands

will be led by Gurpratap Boparai.

2

ŠKODA MOBIL APRIL 2019

189 %

SALES OF ŠKODA

VEHICLES IN ALGERIA

GREW DYNAMICALLY

OVER THREE

CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.

WITH 4,522 VEHICLES

DELIVERED IN THE FIRST

QUARTER, THE BRAND’S

RESULT WAS THE SAME

AS THAT ACHIEVED OVER

THE WHOLE OF 2018.

SCALA ON ITS WAY

TO FIRST OWNERS

The SCALA, a new compact hatchback whose price starts at CZK

369,900 (applies to “Ambition”, the basic but

generously configured trim level), has arrived

in the showrooms of authorised ŠKODA

dealers in the Czech Republic. All dealers

have already received demo vehicles for test

rides to be offered to both existing and

potential customers. The carmaker has

received 4,200 firm orders since the start of

retail sales in its home market in mid-January. The first vehicles will be delivered to

customers in May. “The SCALA is entering

the market in great shape and is well

positioned to succeed in the highly competitive lower-middle class hatchback segment”,

says Miroslav Bláha, ŠKODA AUTO ČR

Head of Sales.

3

THE MOST ATTRACTIVE COMPANY

AS SEEN BY EMPLOYEES

ŠKODA AUTO is the overall winner of

the Czech round of the 2019 Randstad

Award, a survey that forms part of the global

Randstad Employer Brand Research. Over

7,000 Czech employees made their choice

from among 150 domestic private companies. The key criteria included good reputation, use of the latest technologies, job

certainty, career growth and personal

development opportunities, attractive

package, employee benefits etc. “We have

won this survey once again, and we see this

recognition as an important token of

appreciation for the work the company puts

into long-term employee care and development”, says Bohdan Wojnar, Board Member

for HR Management. “We are aware that our

success is the result of a clear vision and,

most of all, satisfied, motivated and innovation-oriented employees.”

4

BOOST IN SALES

IN CAIRO

On 27 March, KAYAN Egypt, the

official ŠKODA importer in the country,

opened its main showroom, a facility whose

design is completely in line with the brand’s

latest CI/CD standards. The importer took

this opportunity to present the KODIAQ

and KAROQ to the general public for the first

time. Besides state-of-the-art vehicle sales

technologies and equipment, the showroom

includes a site to offer aftersales services.

The Egyptian importer opened two more

independent showrooms in Cairo on the

same day. “ŠKODA sees the latest activity of

the Egyptian importer as an important

milestone heralding further growth on this

market”, says Petr Šolc of V3B – Region 10

regarding the latest developments in this

region. In terms of the speed of expanding

the sales network, this project demonstrates

ŠKODA AUTO’s strong focus on the

Egyptian market and the African continent

in general.

7

TRIPLE SUCCESS

FOR ‘4x4s’

ŠKODA has achieved three victories in

this year’s edition of Allradautos des

Jahres, a reader survey held by the Auto Bild

Allrad magazine in Germany. The SUPERB

4x4 won this prestigious award for the 10th

time, this year as the best imported car in the

category of 4x4 Passenger Vehicles under

EUR 40,000. The OCTAVIA SCOUT scored

its fifth win in the category of Imported 4x4

Crossovers, and the KODIAQ 4x4 dominated

the category of Imported Off-Road Vehicles

and SUVs under EUR 35,000. Readers chose

their favourites online between 4 January

and 1 February from among 211 models

across 10 categories.

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