Successful year at ŠKODA plant in Kvasiny

A successful year for the ŠKODA Kvasiny plant - A track record of 500,000 units of the second generation Superb produced at Kvasiny through the end of December.With a track record of 500,000 produced units of the second generation ŠKODA Superb, the Kvasiny plant finishes 2013 as one of the best years in its history. The highlights of the past year include the successful production launches of two heavily revised models, the Yeti and the Superb, and the production launch of the ŠKODA Roomster on a new production line. The Kvasiny plant has received large investments into modernisation and environmental measures in line with the ongoing model campaign. Other points of interest must also be commended in review of the past year, namely the ‘Environmental Project of the Year’ award and significant production anniversaries.

ŠKODA has wholly dedicated the year 2013 to new models. The Kvasiny plant has generated two completely revised products for the brand, the Yeti and the Superb. “Kvasiny is an important pillar in ŠKODA’s Growth Strategy. With a total of three production launches and the necessary modernisation measures underway, the whole workforce again displayed its high standard of performance and tackled the challenges presented throughout this year with exceptional dedication,” says Michael Oeljeklaus, ŠKODA Member of the Board for Production and Logistics.

A completely revised ŠKODA Yeti was phased into production at Kvasiny in November of this year. Fully overhauled versions of the ŠKODA Superb and Superb Combi have also been rolling off the line at Kvasiny since May 2013. Assembly and Body Shop operations have received a boost in the form of new equipment and tooling. In addition, the plant was able to optimise the overall logistics process and also redesign the Final Assembly testing area. The company relaunched the production of the ŠKODA Roomster at Kvasiny at the beginning of the year, and a part of the assembly line was modernised to handle this task. The suspension alignment station was also modernised, and the overall logistics concept at the Kvasiny plant was overhauled, including the construction of a new logistics building.

The Kvasiny plant made a big impact this year in terms of environmental protection by launching a new cogeneration unit into operation in July. With this system coming online, the plant will lower its annual CO2 emission output by 10%, or 8,000 tons. After only a few weeks in operation, this unit has received the ‘Environmental Project of the Year’ award in the Czech Republic. The environmental investment at Kvasiny amounted to approximately 3 million EUR. Two thirds of this amount was carried by ŠKODA, with one third coming from EU structural funds.

The success of the Kvasiny plant this year is underlined by two production anniversaries: In November, Kvasiny reached a jubilee of 1,5 million cars produced so far at the plant, and in the last week before Christmas it marked the 500,000th produced second generation ŠKODA Superb.

The Kvasiny plant builds on approximately 80 years of manufacturing heritage, and cars have been produced at this site since the early 1930’s, including the JAWA 700. The first model of the ŠKODA brand built at Kvasiny was the ŠKODA Superb in 1947. This was followed by the ŠKODA Felicia (1958-1964), the ŠKODA 110 R Coupé (1970-1980), and the ŠKODA Pick-up/VW Caddy Pick-up (1995-2001), among others. The new generation of the ŠKODA Superb went into production in 2001, followed by the ŠKODA Yeti in 2009. The production of the Roomster returned back to Kvasiny at the beginning of 2013. Today, the Kvasiny plant produces the ŠKODA Yeti, Superb and Roomster models, and employs a workforce of approx. 4,500 employees who build 800 vehicles per day in three shifts.