Top Performance ŠKODA AUTO

ŠKODA AUTO has recently commissioned a new competence centre at its state-of-the-art Kvasiny plant. With the expansion of the plant, the Czech car manufacturer is preparing for the production of the ŠKODA SUPERB with plug-in hybrid drive The brand’s first hybrid vehicle is planned to roll off the production line in 2019. Romana Moares reports.

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ŠKODA is one of the longest-established automobile companies in the world. With more than 1.25 million cars delivered to customers in 2018, the company reached the benchmark of a million cars for the fifth time in a row. The Czech car manufacturer, which significantly strengthened its position by joining the Volkswagen Group in 1991, currently offers 9 model ranges made at its three Czech manufacturing sites - Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí, where gearboxes are made - employing over 36,000 people.

In 2018, Skoda produced more vehicles in the Czech Republic than ever before in its 124-year history. In total, 886,100 vehicles ran off the production lines at the Mladá Boleslav and Kvasiny factories, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to the previous year, and a result of the ongoing modernisation and expansion of the Czech production sites.

State-of-the-art facility

The ŠKODA AUTO Kvasiny plant is one of the world’s most advanced automotive plants and is currently undergoing the most comprehensive modernisation and expansion in its history of more than 80 years. As part of its SUV campaign, which began with the ŠKODA KODIAQ, the company invested a total of eleven billion CZK in modernising production processes. “In 2018, a new multi-functional competence centre was commissioned, concentrating all areas for vehicle testing and analysis under one roof, including the testing and quality centre, the logistics centre as well as space to store pre-production vehicles,” says Jiří Černý, Manager of the Kvasiny plant.

The Kvasiny plant has a prominent role in the country’s economy. ŠKODA AUTO currently employs around 9,000 people in Kvasiny, making the company one of the region’s largest employers. In 2018, the company surpassed the mark of 300,000 vehicles produced at the Kvasiny plant for the first time. In 2019, production of the ŠKODA SUPERB featuring plug-in-hybrid drive will begin in Kvasiny and in 2023, the Volkswagen Passat family will also be manufactured there alongside the ŠKODA KODIAQ and ŠKODA SUPERB.

“Kvasiny is a state-of the-art-plant with a rich tradition and an excellent, highly competent workforce,” affirms Mr Černý. “Production of cars started here in 1934, with the first ŠKODA SUPERB rolling off the lines 13 years later, later on joined by the FELICIA (1958 to 1964), the 110 R Coupé (1970 to 1980), the PICK-UP (1995 to 2001), the first and second generations of the SUPERB, and finally the ROOMSTER and the YETI. Today, the plant makes the ŠKODA’s SUPERB, KODIAQ, and KAROQ models as well as the SUV SEAT ATECA.”

New competence centre

The Kvasiny plant is preparing to embark on the road to electromobility: The production site is establishing a new electricity distribution network and charging stations for electric vehicles, with a view to launch the production of the ŠKODA SUPERB plug-in hybrid later this year.

The investment in the new multifunctional competence centre has been made to support this development. The fact that all areas of vehicle testing including the acoustic laboratory, odour laboratory and vibration test stands, are now contained in a single complex brings definite advantages - the shorter distances between individual departments will accelerate inspection processes, allowing for a faster result evaluation.

The centre is equipped with the latest technology such as a water chamber where climate conditions varying from fine drizzle to tropi-

cal downpours can be simulated. In addition, the test centre features a state-of-the-art “silent cabin”, where acousticians can monitor disruptive driving noise. Vibrations of the entire vehicle can be simulated with a “shaker”, and there is also a laboratory dedicated to dynamic tests.

Ready for e-mobility

2019 marks ŠKODA’s entry into the era of electromobility. 124 years after the company was founded, the Czech automaker is launching the SUPERB PHEV with plug-in hybrid drive and a fully battery-powered version of the CITIGO. In 2020, the first production vehicles will follow based on the MEB. Over the next four years, ŠKODA is investing around two billion euros in alternative drive systems and new mobility services and will have introduced more than ten electrified models by the end of 2022.

“As an important pillar of production, the Kvasiny plant makes a considerable contribution to achieving the production targets defined in ŠKODA’s Strategy 2025. Starting in 2023, the models in the Volkswagen Passat family will be produced in the Kvasiny plant alongside the SUPERB. This will enable us to create additional synergy potential between the brands,” Mr Černý explains.