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Tour de France: ŠKODA CEO hands over winner’s trophies

  • ŠKODA supported the top cycling event for the ninth consecutive year
  • Impressive presence of 110 ŠKODA cars
  • ŠKODA CEO Winfried Vahland handed over traditional Czech glass art trophies on the Champs-Elysées in Paris

At the finish of the three-week cycling event, ŠKODA CEO Winfried Vahland awarded trophies to the winners of a total of four categories, including the wearer of the Yellow Jersey, Bradley Wiggins from Great Britain. The winner of the White Jersey, Tejay Van Garderen from the USA also received a special trophy from ŠKODA.

This year, ŠKODA sponsored the Tour de France, which ended on Sunday on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, for the ninth consecutive time. ŠKODA CEO Winfried Vahland said: “The Tour de France is the number one cycling event worldwide. We are happy that we contributed to a fantastic Tour in 2012. Our sponsorship reached millions of fans by the roadside and a billion-strong international audience in the media.”

ŠKODA provided the Tour de France organisers with about 110 cars. In addition, the brand was partner of the White Jersey for the best cyclist under 25 years of age. “As the premier class of cycling, the Tour de France fits perfectly with ŠKODA – not just because of its dynamic nature, but also because of its history: ŠKODA began its success story in 1895 as a bicycle maker,” said Vahland. ŠKODA was highly visible in every phase of the day’s stages thanks to large-format advertising in the starting and finishing areas as well as on the roads.

The crowning conclusion of ŠKODA’s commitment was the handover of the winner’s trophies by Prof. Vahland to this year’s tour winner Bradley Wiggins from Great Britain and the winners in the other categories (White Jersey – Tejay Van Garderen from the USA as best junior professional under 25 years; Green Jersey – Peter Sagan from Slovakia as best sprinter; Dotted Jersey – Thomas Voeckler from France as best mountain racer). ŠKODA Designer Peter Olah took part in creating the trophies, which are hand-made by Bohemian glass artists.

This year’s Tour de France was another show of exceptional cycling action as around 15 million spectators flocked to the roadsides, while another two billion viewers all over the world watched it on TV. Only the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games achieve a higher viewership.

Besides Ice Hockey and ŠKODA Motorsport activities, cycling is the most important pillar in ŠKODA’s sponsoring strategy. This includes a commitment to cycling as a popular sport, such as the support of the Czech ‘Cycle for Life’ event and the ‘Velothon’ in Berlin.

Closer to home, ŠKODA UK is the official vehicle sponsor of The Tour of Britain and also sponsors The King of the Mountains Jersey. As well as The Tour of Britain ŠKODA UK also sponsor two British cycling teams: Team Raleigh–GAC and Rapha Condor Sharp.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

ŠKODA Celebrates: 14 million Vehicles Produced 

  • ‘Laurin & Klement’ Superb special edition
  • Impressive growth of the ŠKODA brand
  • Production and sales to grow significantly by 2018
  • Model expansion in international markets

Mladá Boleslav/Kvasiny, February 2, 2012 – ŠKODA has produced its 14-millionth car. The celebratory vehicle rolled off the assembly line at the Czech plant at Kvasiny the other day. The ‘Laurin & Klement’ Superb special edition vehicle is designated for delivery to a German customer.

This special edition is another milestone for the sustained growth of the automobile manufacturer.

“This celebratory car is an impressive expression of our growth strategy,” says ŠKODA chairman of the board, Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. “We are expanding at a high speed. Almost two thirds of the 14 million cars built by the company were produced and sold in the past 20 years, four million of which were produced in the past 5 years alone.”

ŠKODA plans to increase its worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million units per year by 2018. With a total of 879,200 units in 2011, the company sold more cars than ever in its history.

This current milestone illustrates the very dynamic development of the brand and, at the same time, points toward the great significance of its affiliation with the Volkswagen Group in the year 1991.

“We thank the entire ŠKODA team, which has made this development possible and which can rightly be proud of its achievement,” emphasizes Vahland.

ŠKODA began the largest model expansion of its history last year, to accomplish this goal. With Citigo and the compact sedan Rapid, sold in India, the two new model lines already celebrated their sales premieres at the end of 2011. ŠKODA wants to introduce an average of one new model to the market every six months in the coming years.

The manufacturer is increasing capacity in Czech and international plants and at the same time, ŠKODA continues the consistent internationalization of the brand, particularly focusing on the emerging markets of China, Russia and India.

At the end of 2012, the compact SUV Yeti will be produced in China in cooperation with Shanghai Volkswagen. Moreover, the brand will commence production of a new compact sedan in China at the beginning of 2013.

In Russia, a second production site following the one in Kaluga has been in operation since 2011. As well as this, capacities are growing in India - with the new compact sedan Rapid having been built in Pune since 2011.

Milestones of the car manufacture at ŠKODA AUTO:

    • January 30, 2012: 14 million automobiles since 1905

 

    • December 2011: 1.5 million vehicles of the Octavia II type

 

    • October 12, 2011: 10-millionth automobile produced at the plant in Mladá Boleslav

 

    • September 2, 2011: 4-millionth MQ200 gearbox built at the plant in Mladá Boleslav

 

    • April 8, 2009: 12 million automobiles since 1905

 

    • July 13, 2006: 10 million automobiles since 1905 (5 million of which were manufactured since the entry of VW in 1991)

 

  • 1991: 5 million automobiles since 1905

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

Triple Triumph for ŠKODA Superb Estate

The ŠKODA Superb Estate has made it a hat-trick of wins in the annual awards from respected magazine Diesel Car.

It’s the third year in a row the popular load-lugger has scooped the top honour in the ‘Best Estate Car’ category. Claiming the title again is an amazing achievement for a car that first appeared in showrooms in 2010.

Not to be outdone, the ŠKODA Yeti also picked up an award. It was named runner-up in the ‘Best Crossover’ class.

Ian Robertson, Editor of Diesel Car, was full of praise for the ŠKODA Superb Estate. He commented: “For the past three years this car has been a winner. There’s simply nothing else that can compete for space, quality and sheer desirability. It’s ŠKODA value and quality in an estate car that is just the ideal all-round loadster. You just can’t argue with a boot that stretches from 633 litres to a whopping 1,865 litres.”

“For the Superb to be voted the ‘Best Estate Car’ for three years in a row shows what an exceptional product it remains. Thousands of new owners are finding that out for themselves every year and sales continue to grow year-on-year,” said Chris Horrell, Product Marketing Manager, ŠKODA UK.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

Mikkelsen extends IRC lead with 2nd in San Marino

ŠKODA UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen has extended his lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge after finishing 2nd on the San Marino Rally (July 6-7) in his factory-prepared Fabia S2000. The reigning Drivers’ champion is now 24 points ahead of Jan Kopecký (ŠKODA Motorsport), while ŠKODA increases its lead in the Manufacturers’ standings to 128 points, as the 13 round series moves into the second half of the season. 

Co-driven by Ola Fløene, Andreas drove magnificently to lead the narrow, twisty and dusty gravel event for eight stages (SS3-10), despite running first on the road during Leg 1 and sweeping the loose gravel away for the cars following. His normally aspirated Fabia S2000 was also at a disadvantage on the many uphill hairpin sections against the turbocharged car of Giandomenico Basso, yet his inch-perfect driving saw Andreas record six fastest stage times compared to Basso’s five over the two day event.

Andreas entered the 13th and final stage 3.8 seconds behind Basso. It was a stage that favoured the turbocharged car, as Basso had been quicker on both previous runs through it. With finishing well and scoring valuable IRC points the main priority, Andreas was one second quicker than Basso over the final test to secure 2nd place – finishing just 2.8 seconds adrift after over two and a half hours and 118.2 miles (190.3kms) of competition.

ŠKODA Fabia S2000s filled the next two positions, with Umberto Scandola finishing 3rd and initial rally leader Sepp Wiegand 4th.

Andreas: “The stages on this year’s San Marino Rally have been some of the most difficult gravel ones I have ever competed on, especially when we were running first on the road and sweeping the loose gravel. The roads were so narrow and twisty, with so many trees and bushes hanging into the road, that it was impossible to see the exit of corners, so I’m very pleased with our speed and performance. When the stages were fast we were the fastest, but on the many uphill hairpin sections we lost out to the turbocharged car. We came to San Marino to score as many IRC points as possible and to extend our lead in the series, so I’m very happy that we’ve achieved that.”

In addition to broadcasting recorded highlights of the event, Eurosport cameras have been following Andreas and Ola during the San Marino Rally for its Inside IRC programme, which is scheduled to be broadcast at 23.30 (CET) on Tuesday 10 July (check TV listings for regional times).

The next round of the IRC is the Sibiu Rally Romania (20-21 July).

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

ŠKODA wants to complete IRC hat-trick in 2012

  • The IRC championship remains the priority
  • ŠKODA Motorsport to compete in the European Championship series for the first time
  • The team's agenda for the Czech rally championship has been extended
  • Hänninen and Kopecký named again as factory drivers
  • The team will enter the new year with a new factory-car design

Mladá Boleslav, 16 December, 2011 – The ŠKODA Motorsport team will continue the Fabia Super 2000 car in 2012. The team will be hoping to win the Manufactures title for the third year running. This has been the most successful year in the brand's long history of motorsport efforts. The participation in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) with the Fabia Super 2000, where ŠKODA has won the titles in both the Drivers and Manufacturers categories for two consecutive years, remains the brand's top priority. Furthermore, one of the factory crews will compete in selected rallies of the European Championship, and the factory team will appear in the Czech rally championship. Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký remain the brand's factory drivers for 2012. The first event in 2012 to see the factory team in action is the Jänner Rally, taking place in Austria over the first weekend of January.

Commenting on the team's agenda in 2012, Head of the ŠKODA Motorsport team Michal Hrabánek says: “ŠKODA's top priority will be to defend the IRC titles we have won in the past two years. Three drivers in factory-prepared Fabia Super 2000s are going to fight for points in the Manufacturers category – Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen of ŠKODA Motorsport (factory team) and Andreas Mikkelsen of ŠKODA UK Motorsport. With future prospects in mind, we want to gain experience in selected events of the European Championship where we will be represented by Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula, one of our factory crews. Intending to become even more visible in the home market, the other factory crew, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler, will appear on Czech tracks as part of the Czech Championship. Pavel Dressler has replaced Petr Starý who, unfortunately, has a long-standing health problem – in this connection, the whole team wishes Petr a fast recovery.”

2011 SWRC Champion Juho Hänninen: “I have learned a lot at ŠKODA Motorsport over the past three years, and these have been more than good times for the entire team. I believe that we will be successful also next year, which holds some new rallies for us, but that is exactly what makes this sport so exciting. I am pretty certain that we are going to make another step ahead with the Fabia.”

Three times IRC runner up Jan Kopecký: “I appreciate the opportunity to continue co-operating with ŠKODA Motorsport. Our ambition in the Czech Championship is of course to keep appearing on the top ranks and the goal in the selected IRC events is to always win as many points as possible in order to help ŠKODA win the third title in the Manufacturers category. I want to say a big thank you to Petr Starý for three great years that we have spent together and wish him a fast recovery.”

The Mladá Boleslav-based car manufacturer is celebrating 110 years of its motorsport efforts in 2011, a year which, has been its most successful so far. ŠKODA has comfortably repeated last year's victory in the Manufacturers category of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge championship, Fabia Super 2000 drivers have won the first three places in the Drivers category of the IRC (Mikkelsen 1st, Kopecký 2nd, Hänninen 3rd) and Juho Hänninen and Mikko Markkula have won the first-ever SWRC title for ŠKODA. At the end of this year, ŠKODA Motorsport and its Fabia Super 2000s made their debut in the Race of Champions, a prestigious multi-discipline event with a history of more than 20 years.

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk

More Articles...

  1. ŠKODA Celebrates: 14 million Vehicles Produced
  2. Record-breaking success for ŠKODA at 2012 Auto Express Car of the Year awards
  3. The 2012 Arrival of Volkswagen Passat 2.5 SEL

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