FLIGHT THROUGH THE ŠKODA WORLD
AROUND THE WORLD
COUNTRIES WITH A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN ŠKODA SALES IN AUGUST 2018
IN PERCENT COMPARED WITH AUGUST 2017
91,800
TOTAL NUMBER OF
VEHICLES SOLD IN
AUGUST 2018
RAPID MODEL
IN THE SERVICE OF THE VATICAN
Rusko ↗ 34 %
Norsko ↗ 36 %
Španělsko ↗ 37 %
Ukrajina ↗ 38 %
Maďarsko ↗ 39 %
Chorvatsko ↗ 46 %
Kazachstán ↗ 100 %
Řecko ↗ 104 %
On his two-day visit to Ireland, Pope
Francis was driven around in a
ŠKODA car. He visited Dublin to mark the
ninth year of the World Meeting of Families.
This event, where ŠKODA AUTO was the
official partner this year, takes place every
three years. The car company provided the
organisers with four customised RAPID
SPACEBACK cars. Models intended
exclusively for the pope were designed by
the carmaker following very detailed
specifications provided by the Vatican.
ŠKODA AUTO also provided the cardinals,
bishops and VIP guests participating in this
event with a car fleet comprising OCTAVIA,
KAROQ and SUPERB cars.
3
FLEET OF ŠKODA CARS
FOR GUESTS OF NATO DAYS
For the sixth time in history, ŠKODA
AUTO joined forces with the largest
security show in Europe. NATO Days and
Dny Vzdušných sil Armády ČR (Czech Air
Force Days) took place in Ostrava at the
Leoš Janáček Airport on 15 and 16 September. The car company provided the event
with 28 SUPERB cars and other models to
transport important guests from all over the
world, as well as members of the organisational team. In cooperation with the local
authorised dealer Auto Heller, the company
introduced a complete range of ŠKODA cars
to visitors. The latest SUV KAROQ and
KAROQ, as well as the modernised FABIA,
got the most attention. History lovers
feasted their eyes on famous historical
models, including the predecessor of
today’s SUVs, the legendary TREKKA car.
As a competition for visitors, the organisers
also prepared a virtual-reality rally simulator.
4
WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR ŠKODA CARS IS INCREASING
In August 2018, the carmaker delivered 91,800
cars to customers. Some countries even posted
a three-digit increase because of demand, beating last year’s sales in August by 6.6 percent.
The highest increases were recorded in China,
where sales rose by 11.5%, and in Russia,
where they grew by 33.5 percent. Compared
with August last year, ŠKODA AUTO also improved its position in Europe by 6 percent. Alain
Favey, Board Member for Sales and Marketing,
50
THE ŠKODA 1203,
WHICH WAS THE
MOST WIDESPREAD
CZECHOSLOVAK LIGHT
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
OF THE 20TH CENTURY,
WAS FIRST INTRODUCED
TO THE WORLD AT
THE INTERNATIONAL
ENGINEERING FAIR IN BRNO
ON 14 SEPTEMBER 1968.
100
IN OCTOBER THIS YEAR,
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
CELEBRATES 100 YEARS
SINCE ITS FOUNDING.
ŠKODA AUTO MARKS
THIS CELEBRATION IN THE
SECTION MOTOR OF THE
FIRST REPUBLIC, WHICH
FORMS PART OF THIS ISSUE
OF ŠKODA MOBIL.
2
ŠKODA MOBIL SEPTEMBER 2018
commented on the success: “In large part, the
growth in August was thanks to the brilliant
results of our compact SUV model, the KAROQ. The successful start of sales of a modernised FABIA model contributed significantly
to another best result in the history of the car
factory. These impulses will soon be followed
by the KODIAQ RS and KAROQ SCOUT and
SPORTLINE models, which will join our range
of models in the near future.”
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
IN A NUTSHELL
The car company has opened a new
innovation area, InnoCube, in the Na
Karmeli Education Centre in Mladá
Boleslav. It will play a key role in preparing
employees for and educating them about
the digital transformation. For the opening
ceremony, the organisers prepared an
evening programme that outlined the
possible future development of mobility
and other fields. Visitors were able to
encounter augmented reality, video-mapping and 3D printing. Levitrons, which
create a strong magnetic field that makes
small objects levitate, were on display.
Guests could also try hoverboards
(self-balancing electric scooters) and
drones, which foreshadow future mobility.
The highlight of the evening was video-mapping, which introduced some of the
car company’s successes over the past
century. The act of officially opening the
InnoCube was carried out by Pepper the
robot with the cutting of a laser beam.
Subsequently, guests could learn about
current concepts of the innovation team.
However, InnoCube is not only the seat of
this department. There is also a start-up
incubator for ŠKODA AUTO University students to develop digital business models
and prepare to create start-ups. There is
also an auditorium that will serve as a
venue for all innovative events from all
parts of the car company. Embedded in a
wall, a glass cube with a microchip inside
is worth mentioning, as it carries personal
messages from members of the Board of
Directors. In these messages they express
their visions for the future development of
education, individual mobility and cars.
1
46 %
THE CROATIAN
MARKET IS IN GOOD
SHAPE THIS YEAR.
THERE WERE 46
PERCENT MORE CARS
DELIVERED TO THE
MARKET THIS YEAR
THAN LAST AUGUST.
THUS, WE EXPECT A
TWO-DIGIT INCREASE
IN SALES IN 2018.
Individuals who participated in the
creation of the Na Karmeli Education
Centre were also present at the opening
ceremony.
THE LARGEST CORPORATE
DATA CENTRE IN THE CR
On 19 September, ŠKODA AUTO
officially opened an expanded data
centre – the largest centre of its kind in the
Czech Republic. The car company needs it
for complex tasks related to the digitisation
of the company and IT services offered. The
centre will be able to execute 15 quadrillion
computing solutions per second, which will
enable the operation of high performance
computing (a type of computer cluster, or a
group of interconnected computers, solving
mathematically complex solutions). “In
order to secure maximum data security and
maximum computing power at the same
time, the car company needs a data centre
with the latest computing and memory
power. The building of the data centre
shows that ŠKODA AUTO is not only a car
producer but also a leading mobility
provider in the Czech Republic”, explains
Klaus-Dieter Schürmann, Board Member for
Finance and IT. The expanded data centre
serves as an internal cloud storage for
brands of the VW Group. Various departments under IT Development and Production and Logistics use its capacity for projections in virtual reality, visualisations and
simulations. The new data centre is also
environmentally friendly. The heat produced
by cooling down computers is used to heat
offices in the car company. More information
on company digitisation and the phenomenon of data centres will be published in the
next issue of ŠKODA Mobil.
2
INVESTMENT IN PROMISING
STUDENTS PAYS OFF
ŠKODA AUTO offers vocational
praxis to students and pupils in all
their factories. Thus, potential car factory
employees gain major professional experience and get to know individual fields. As
part of the programme for secondary
schools, four students from a vocational
school will participate in their vocational
praxis in Vrchlabí this year. After completing the basics in the Training Centre, they
will move on to production, where they will
learn about all phases of the production
process under expert supervision. Every
year, about 10 new students from the
Technical University in Liberec and the
Czech Technical University in Prague do
their vocational praxis here, too. The best
ones even get to work with cutting-edge or
absolutely unique technology, such as
autonomous robots or the vacuum hardening shop.
5
VOICE ASSISTANT CAN SPEAK
THREE LANGUAGES NOW
Drivers of ŠKODA cars will soon be
able to communicate with their car
using Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in
French as well. Following German and
English, the car company is going to
introduce the third language at the start of
the Paris Motor Show in October this year.
The ŠKODA Connect Alexa Skill app will be
available worldwide. By implementing the
latest technology and service offer, ŠKODA
AUTO makes the everyday use and control
of its cars easier for its customers.
6