Skoda Auto – 125 Years, Still Going Strong

It might not seem like it, but Skoda is now 125 years old. The now premium brand has been on an incredible journey to get here. But it’s not the journey of ridicule to luxury that you might assume. In fact, the jump from being a curious Czech offering to blossoming into a premium brand under the Volkswagen wing is only a small part of the story. Skoda’s impressive journey actually began just before the Christmas of 1895, when mechanic Václav Laurin and the bookseller Václav Klement laid the foundation stone for the present-day Skoda Auto.

 Václav Laurin and Václav Klement

Their mixed backgrounds came together over a shared passion. It wasn’t based on four wheels though. After all, the car was still very much in its infancy back then. No, their shared passion was based on two wheels. The two were of the opinion that the bicycle world had a need for a better product, for something built for the rider by the rider. Something quality, but something affordable. And it was with that in mind that they set about making hand and foot powered bikes. They started with just three people. A year later, Skoda employed twenty-one people.

On 18 November 1899, they presented the first two L&K motorbikes to the public, the SLAVIA A and B models. To make the bikes easier to operate and more stable, the engine was installed in the lower area of the frame. This positioning later became the international standard and is considered a great achievement of the intuitive engineer Václav Laurin.

The company owes its rapid growth to the vision and entrepreneurial talent of Václav Klement. He succeeded in winning large orders both on the domestic market and in industrialised countries such as Germany and Great Britain. The outstanding qualities of the motorised two-wheelers from Mladá Boleslav were also confirmed by their success in demanding racing events. The motor racing debut at the Paris-Berlin race in 1901 – when Narcis Podsedníček came in first by a wide margin after 1,196 kilometres – earned the company legendary status. The highlight of the motorbike era was the victory of an L&K CCR in the unofficial motorbike world championship in Dourdan near Paris on 25 June 1905.

While the motorcycles were proving to be a lucrative avenue for the company, there was no escaping the increasing popularity of the automobile. This was, Laurin and Klement felt, the next area into which their company should move. And in 1905, that’s exactly what they did with the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A. Powered by a 1.0 two-cylinder engine, it could reach the dizzying speed of 40kph. It was a car that would prove incredibly popular, and it allowed the vehicle range on offer to expand rapidly. In 1907, Laurin and Klement offered an eight-cylinder luxury model in the form of the Type FF. The two friends were on the up and up, and their company, Laurin and Klement, was soon recognised as being the largest automobile manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. Not bad for two fellas who started out making bicycles.

In 1925, the Laurin and Klement company merged, strategically, with the Skoda engineering group. This mutually beneficial merger laid the foundation for the company’s continued success story. From then on, the winged arrow in the brand logo became a symbol of speed and progress. Skoda Auto soon converted its facility in Mladá Boleslav to efficient assembly line production. The launch of the new generation of vehicles is considered a milestone: the success of the Popular, Rapid, Favorit and Superb models established Skoda as the leading car manufacturer in its home country from 1936 – a position the brand has held to this day.

After the Second World War, the company was nationalised, but Skoda continued its proud tradition even under the challenging conditions of the planned economy. The production capacities were expanded at the plants in Kvasiny and Vrchlabí, and the company continued to develop new models independently. The now-legendary first Octavia from 1959 and the smart Felicia convertible testify to the engineering prowess of this era. The inauguration of a new factory site in Mladá Boleslav in March 1964 facilitated a rapid increase in annual production volumes. The same year saw the release of the rear-engined Skoda 1000 MB saloon, which would soon be regarded as one of the most advanced one-litre models in the world. The iconic Skoda 110 R sports coupé from 1970 represented another highlight. The Skoda 130 RS, which was derived from it, rose to become one of the most successful racing and rally cars in its category from 1975 onwards, receiving the nickname “Porsche of the East”.

It was only in 1989 that Skoda as we know it today came to be. The car that brought this about was the Favorit, a small but well made little five-door hatch or estate. It was a car that caught the attention of the Volkswagen Group, to such an extent that the big German company decided it needed to bring Skoda under its wing. On 16 April 1991, Skoda became the fourth brand to join the Volkswagen Group. Just as in 1925, the involvement of a strong strategic partner enabled the further dynamic development of the Czech company. Thanks to the cooperation with the globally active German Group, the level of quality increased, Skoda expanded its portfolio to include higher-class models and, over the long term, rightly earned a place as one of the most respected brands in motoring history.

Only a fool would mock Skoda today. Their cars may have been a curiosity back in the ’70s and ’80s, but they weren’t bad cars. Far from it. We challenge anyone to have a go in, say, an Estelle, and not have a riot of a time. No, what Skoda was and is, is different. And different scares people, it presents them with innovation, with a new way of thinking and with something that shuns the norm. But these are not things to be mocked, they’re to be embraced. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be here, taking about Skoda some 125 years on. Truly, this is a remarkable, impressive brand.