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.
5
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.
1
VW GROUP TO MERGE
ITS INDIAN BRANDS
In early April, the VW Group
2
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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