The tradition of the Mladá Boleslav-based company dates back to 1895 when the passionate cyclists and Czech compatriots Václav Laurin and Václav Klement laid the foundations of the Slavia bicycle workshop. From 1899, they also produced modern motorcycles of their own design and in the autumn of 1905, the first Laurin & Klement automobile, the Voiturette A, attracted the attention of the general public.
Owing to its international success, the L&K (Laurin & Klement) brand quickly grew to become the largest car manufacturer in what was then Austria-Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. The Mladá Boleslav carmaker has used the Škoda logo with a winged arrow since the autumn of 1925 when it merged with a strong strategic partner – the Pilsen-based engineering group Škoda. The trademark was registered 100 years ago this year, on 15 December 1923.
There are many other important Škoda Auto anniversaries coming up in 2023, for example, the 110th anniversary of the Laurin & Klement M models, which paved the way for the Škoda Superb. In addition, the carmaker will be celebrating 80 years of Škoda all-wheel drive cars.
A complete overview can be found in the attached brochure. Škoda Auto will be highlighting selected anniversaries in separate press releases.