Skoda, the Czech manufacturer of premium quality cars and SUVs (now part of the VW Group) would officially enter the Sri Lankan market in May-June this year, with IWS Holdings (Pvt) Limited as the sole agent.
“This is a major milestone for IWS as well as for the Sri Lankan consumer looking for a premium vehicle at a more affordable price point,” said Dimitri Sheriff, Director, Corporate Affairs of IWS Holdings in an exclusive interview with the Daily News.
Sheriff told the Daily News that IWS is building a dedicated 25,000 Sq Ft 3S (Sales, Service, Spare Parts) facility for Skoda in Kelaniya, which would be ready for the launch in June. Pre-orders are already being accepted for the Skoda Kodiaq SUV and the facelifted version of the Skoda Superb executive sedan. These will compete with German and Japanese marques at a very competitive and attractive price point, he added.
Sheriff assured that the Skoda cars imported to Sri Lanka would be built in Europe specifically for the Sri Lankan market, with full tropicalisation and fuel quality adjustment. He warned that Skoda cars directly imported by certain dealers have mostly been built for the UK market and hence are not suitable for the tough conditions and the type of fuel available in Sri Lanka.
“The advantage of Skoda being part of the VW Group is that it has access to the same platforms and technologies used by VW group stable mates such as VW itself, SEAT and Audi. Skoda is now a value for money global brand present in a large number of countries. It recently manufactured the 500,000th example of the third-generation Superb, with the milestone vehicle rolling down the production line at its Kvasiny facility in the Czech Republic,” said Sheriff.
IWS will eventually offer the entire current line-up of Skoda, namely Kodiaq, Superb, Karoq and Fabia. Both the Kodiaq and Superb would have 1.4 litre power plants, with a host of other facilities some of which are usually found only in premium German cars. Sheriif said IWS was also looking forward to offering some of the Skodas powered by 1.0 litre engines, though he ruled out higher engine capacities such as 2.0 litre due to the current prohibitive duty structure. IWS is also planning to open showrooms and service facilities for Skoda in the future at more locations in the island.
Skoda cars are produced at four different factories across the globe, including Kvasiny, Aurangabad (India), Nanjing (China), Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan) and Solomonovo (Ukraine), apart from the factories in the home country.
Skoda was established in 1859 under the name Laurin & Klement. This puts Skoda amongst some of the oldest car manufacturers alongside Daimler (Mercedes), Opel, Holden (see our story) and Peugeot. The company first started making bicycles and then moved to motorcycles. The first motorcycle Skoda created was called the ‘Motocyclette’ and was powered by an engine mounted on the handlebars. It did, however, prove extremely dangerous and unreliable and so was shelved. The Slavia motorcycle debuted in 1899 and many credit Skoda as the creators of the motorcycle. The first ever motorcycle factory in Central Europe was also built.
By 1905, Skoda was creating cars, making it the second oldest car manufacturer in the Czech lands after Tatra. The first model was the Voiturette A. It became Skoda in 1925 after Skoda Works, the arms manufacturer, sought to expand its non-arms manufacturing base and acquired Laurin & Klement. After this, cars were manufactured under the Skoda marque. In the 1930s, due to the economic depression, Skoda introduced a new line of cars. These had independent suspension and were modelled on the ones introduced on Tatra models. They were first used on the Skoda 420 Standard and continued to be the basis for the Popular, the Rapid, Favorit and Superb (a name that continues to this day).
The occupation of Czechoslovakia during the Second World War meant that Skoda Works were turned into factories to serve the German war effort. It produced components for military terrain vehicles, military planes and other weapon components. The UK and US air forces bombed the factory repeatedly between 1940 and 1945. It came to an end in April 1945, resulting in an almost complete destruction of the factory. Once the factory was rebuilt, Skoda started producing their first post-war car, the 1101 series. It was an updated version of the Skoda Popular that was launched before the war.
In 1948, Skoda became part of the communist planned economy which meant it was separated from the parent company, Skoda Works. Skoda still retained their good reputation throughout this period, despite losing contact with technological developments in non-communist countries. They produced the Skoda 440 Spartak, the 445 Octavia Felicia and the Skoda 1000 MB. The Favourit was introduced in 1987 and formed part of the group of cars from Eastern Europe most influenced by the West. They were joined by the VAZ Lada Samara and the Yugo Sana by Zastava. The Favourit was popular with both the Eastern bloc and Western Europe and sold well due to its low price and as it was solid and reliable.
The fall of communism led to huge changes in Czechoslovakia. Most industries were now open to privatization and that included Skoda. The authorities decided on Volkswagen and in 1991; a joint venture partnership agreement with Volkswagen was put in place. Volkswagen took a 30% share in Skoda and then raised this to 60.3% in 1994 and then 70% in 1995.
Investment by Volkswagen meant that the style and engineering of Skodas improved greatly. The new Felicia model was popular as it was perceived as good value for money and improved sales across Europe. It was also one of the best-ranking cars in customer satisfaction surveys. The Skoda Fabia was launched in 1999 and actually formed the basis for the Volkswagen Polo and the SEAT Ibiza. The Octavia was launched a few years before in 1994 and shared its plan with the Volkswagen Golf. Skoda has gone from strength to strength and consistently stays at the top when it comes to customer satisfaction surveys.
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