One of the highest motor industry accolades, ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ was presented by Autocar, Britian’s leading weekly motoring title, to Skoda Auto, in London on Tuesday 14 November 2000. Mr Karl-Gunter Busching, Worldwide Director of Production & Logistics, accepted the award during a prestigious ceremony attended by the motor industry elite.
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Skoda Auto was chosen as ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ in recognition
of the transformation that has taken place across the brand during the last
nine years. Recognising those changes
Rob Aherne, Editor of Autocar said, "We wanted to mark how far Skoda had
come over the last few years – not only as a brand but as a producer of
seriously impressive cars. I defy anyone who drives a Fabia not to step out
marvelling at its all-round ability and refinement. Under VW the company has
gone from strength to strength."
It was in April 1991 that Volkswagen and ŠkodaAuto began one of the most
successful, and most daunting, alliances in the motor industry and in less than
a decade delivered the greatest transformation of any car company ever. Changing
the preconceptions and entrenched views of the British public was just one of
the many challenges that faced the brand.
A two billion pound investment has enabled ŠkodaAuto to build a sustained
new product development programme, establish and maintain the highest build-quality
standards, all delivered by a skilled workforce using the most modern technology
and manufacturing processes in the industry. The demand created for Škoda
cars has meant more than a 100 per cent sales increase, with 80 per cent of
sales exported to 70 countries around the world. Production stood at 172,000
vehicles in 1991 and projections for this year stand at 430,000, an increase
of 150 per cent. The competitive Western European market has grown from virtually
a hand-full of sales in 1991 to nearly 200,000 in 1999. The United Kingdom alone
shows year to date (January to October 2000) sales increases of 21 per cent
over the same period last year, in a market down one per cent.
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By GlobalData
Karl-Gunter-Busching said on accepting the award: "We are genuinely elated
by Autocar’s recognition of our manufacturing capability. This award is
the ‘icing-on- the-cake’."
This latest award is more evidence to build on the very strong foundations
of a healthy and prosperous brand and follows on from a long line of industry
awards during the year 2000.
ŠkodaAuto was awarded the top prize for quality within the Volkswagen
Group worldwide during the second quarter of 2000. The Fabia since its launch
in March 2000 has been pronounced ‘Car of the Year’ by both What Car?
and Auto Express. In October the brand swept the board in the Marketing Week/Chartered
Institute of Marketing, Advertising Effectiveness Awards, by taking the best
Automotive category, the overall Grand Prix, ‘winner of winner’ prizes
and ŠkodaAuto’s Head of Marketing, Chris Hawken, walked off with the
‘Marketer of the Year’ Award.
Volkswagen AG initially acquired a 30 per cent share of the company in 1991,
increasing that to 70 per cent in December 1995. In May 2000 ŠkodaAuto
became a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.
Skoda Auto was chosen as ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ in recognition
of the transformation that has taken place across the brand during the last
nine years. Recognising those changes
Rob Aherne, Editor of Autocar said, "We wanted to mark how far Skoda had
come over the last few years – not only as a brand but as a producer of
seriously impressive cars. I defy anyone who drives a Fabia not to step out
marvelling at its all-round ability and refinement. Under VW the company has
gone from strength to strength."
It was in April 1991 that Volkswagen and ŠkodaAuto began one of the most
successful, and most daunting, alliances in the motor industry and in less than
a decade delivered the greatest transformation of any car company ever. Changing
the preconceptions and entrenched views of the British public was just one of
the many challenges that faced the brand.
A two billion pound investment has enabled ŠkodaAuto to build a sustained
new product development programme, establish and maintain the highest build-quality
standards, all delivered by a skilled workforce using the most modern technology
and manufacturing processes in the industry. The demand created for Škoda
cars has meant more than a 100 per cent sales increase, with 80 per cent of
sales exported to 70 countries around the world. Production stood at 172,000
vehicles in 1991 and projections for this year stand at 430,000, an increase
of 150 per cent. The competitive Western European market has grown from virtually
a hand-full of sales in 1991 to nearly 200,000 in 1999. The United Kingdom alone
shows year to date (January to October 2000) sales increases of 21 per cent
over the same period last year, in a market down one per cent.
Karl-Gunter-Busching said on accepting the award: "We are genuinely elated
by Autocar’s recognition of our manufacturing capability. This award is
the ‘icing-on- the-cake’."
This latest award is more evidence to build on the very strong foundations
of a healthy and prosperous brand and follows on from a long line of industry
awards during the year 2000.
ŠkodaAuto was awarded the top prize for quality within the Volkswagen
Group worldwide during the second quarter of 2000. The Fabia since its launch
in March 2000 has been pronounced ‘Car of the Year’ by both What Car?
and Auto Express. In October the brand swept the board in the Marketing Week/Chartered
Institute of Marketing, Advertising Effectiveness Awards, by taking the best
Automotive category, the overall Grand Prix, ‘winner of winner’ prizes
and ŠkodaAuto’s Head of Marketing, Chris Hawken, walked off with the
‘Marketer of the Year’ Award.
Volkswagen AG initially acquired a 30 per cent share of the company in 1991,
increasing that to 70 per cent in December 1995. In May 2000 ŠkodaAuto
became a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.
