Volkswagen Group brand uses ex-Karmann plant: Skoda is a little German – with a model

04/30/2018

Volkswagen Group brand uses ex-Karmann plant Skoda will be a little German – with a model

REUTERS

The compact SUV Skoda Karoq will in future also be assembled in Osnabrück

“Simply Clever” is the motto of the Czech car brand Skoda. That suits, because over the past 25 years, the Czechs have proven to be as skilled as they are enterprising: they are making the leap from the ailing Eastern bloc icon to a global brand. This was made possible by the VolkswagenCorporation, which took over in 1991 the sunken car brand, including marbled factories.

As a result, some money flowed to Mlada Boleslav, the headquarters of Skoda. What’s more, the Czechs were able to make use of the kits and shelves of the Volkswagen Group at an early stage – and did so with great skill. Today Skoda not only lets its vehicles produce more in the Czech Republic, they also run off the line in VW’s plants in China or Russia.

In Germany, however, the Skoda vehicles were previously imported exclusively. After all, the Czech headquarters is not that far from the German border. But that will change soon, if only in a rather small framework: Skoda will be the first time to produce vehicles in Germany.

Part of the production of the SUV Skoda Karoq will be assembled in the future in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, reported the newspaper “Lidove noviny” from Prague. It is planned to run there until the end of the first 2500 copies of the Yeti successor from the tape.

New task for former Karmann factory

“In order to meet the increased demand for our latest model, the Karoq, we have decided to use manufacturing capacity within the VW Group,” said Skoda spokeswoman Kamila Biddle. The focus of the brand, however, remains in the main plant Mlada Boleslav and in the other Czech plants. In March, the “Osnabrücker Zeitung” already informed about the plans for the Karoq.

In Osnabrück, the small car model Fabia is already being painted today. In the local factory, which had taken over VW after the insolvency of the convertible specialist Karmann, more than 2300 employees work.

Skoda had the record number of a total of 1.2 million vehicles delivered, A push by the management during recent bargaining negotiations to extend working hours at the Czech Mlada Boleslav mill to the weekend had been rejected by the unions. Ultimately, the collective bargaining parties agreed 12 percent more pay and a one-time payment.

In Europe, the capacity of the Skoda plants are fully utilized, said Skoda CEO Bernard Maier recently the Czech news portal “auto.cz”. Possible solutions would be the construction of a new factory, a restructuring of existing processes and other alternatives. A solution on a smaller scale for the German market is now obviously found.

wed / dpa

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