As we will have told you from time to time in the past, behind each brand there is a story to tell, a series of peculiarities and details that make it unique and different from the competition. That reason is more than enough to place emphasis again on a car house that nourishes so many people and homes around the world.
On this occasion, from AutoUsaPremium We wanted to dedicate this space to Skoda and tell you 10 things you didn’t know about the Czech car firm, which is immersed in a process of change with a new logo and a firm commitment to the future, with new electric models that will see the light of day together with truly exciting features. If you are so expectant to know what it offers, we encourage you to continue reading.
Fun facts about Škoda in 10 details
Once we have contextualized the topic that we are going to talk about, it is time to get down to business and tell everything that, perhaps, you have never heard or read about the Skoda car brand. As the saying goes, never go to bed without knowing something new. Here we go.
1. His relationship with cycling is very intimate
Despite the fact that cars constitute its main line of business, the truth is that its links with cycling are very close, regardless of the fact that it is the brand that supplies its vehicles to major cycling races, such as the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. And it is that its founders, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement, established a bicycle factory in 1895, which is the same date of the creation of the automobile company, in the city of Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic), so that these Commercial alliances with the great events of this sport allow them to keep their roots in mind.
He began to collaborate with the Spanish career in 2010 and with the French one in 2004, a relationship that continues to this day.. They were both passionate about cycling and decided to start making this means of two wheels that drove them crazy and with which they went out to ride on the roads of their country, but they never had enough parts from the manufacturer and decided to allocate the factory to repair , also motivated by the problems to repair their own.
2. Archery earned him a world record
Although there is no evidence that it is dedicated to making arrows or bows, the truth is that archery is a sport that has also provided significant benefits to Skoda. In the logo that has its days numbered, an arrow appears, and to give it the homage it deserves, it has been preparing an event for months, with the purpose of setting the record for the arrow shot and caught in a car from the furthest distance. Said and done: they caught an arrow of only 68 centimeters that traveled a total of 57.5 meters while it and the vehicle in question moved at a speed of 215 kilometers per hour.
3. Skoda Pilsen, a partner that explains where they have come
As the initiative of the two founders gained size thanks to their professional activities, the need to find alliances with other companies also grew, since there came a time when they believed they were stagnating. They had progressed very successfully, not in vain did they come to develop trucks and buses.
The Skoda Pilsen company, which today gives its name to the brand we all know today, was a very important partner, to the point that that alliance was able to move forward despite the disastrous consequences of the Great Depression or Crash of 29. Their production, it is true, went down if compared to the years prior to this crisis, but they did not stop and raised their heads after a while.
4. They have the most powerful commercial computer in the Czech Republic
Part of the economic prosperity of the Central European country goes through the good health of the brand, and its political leaders know that. And it is that since October 2019 they have the most powerful commercial supercomputer in the nation, with a capacity of two PETAflops, which translates into a great capacity to carry out two billion computer operations per second.
It must be said that an important part of these operations are made up of aerodynamic simulations. However, the car company is not satisfied and intends to increase the capacity to 15 PETAflops in the near future, which will enable it, if it succeeds, to carry out 15 trillion operations per second. It makes you dizzy just thinking about it.
5. The brand’s first emblem was a long time coming
It was not until 1933, when the company was already 38, when the first emblem or logo of the brand came to light.. From the company they inform that the meaning that it keeps behind it is linked to the historical context of those times, with the upcoming II World War that very hard times were coming that were not going to let the population breathe after the great crisis that occurred at the end of the previous decade.
The wings represent the flight that the brand had to climb after the great war that changed the geopolitical tableau near the first half, and which it finally achieved. During the war, the company forcibly changed hands so that it could be controlled by the leader of Nazi Germany Hermann Goring-Werke, founder of the Gestapo and who served as an aviator in WWI (1914-1918).
6. A resilient Skoda Octavia
The car of the longest-running brand in Spain is an Octavia dating from 1961. However, its owner, Juan Carlos Peralta, found it completely abandoned at the end of the last century in a scrapyard and set to work restoring it. Of course, he had to contact workshops in the Czech Republic to get original parts and make his wish come true when he saw it for the first time.
In fact, in the documentary that Skoda dedicates to him on the occasion of the 60th anniversary, this man and his car appear in it. And it is that the different accounts of Skoda Spain on social networks wanted to know which was the longest-lived vehicle it had in the Spanish country, and this fan of natural mechanics from Lalueza (Huesca) was the winner. As a reward, he was able to travel to the Czech Republic and visit the Mladá Boleslav factory.
7. It belongs to Volkswagen since the 90’s
The war had long since ended and things were back to normal, allowing Skoda to continue business and enjoy a time of good economic health, but something even better was yet to come in the last decade of the 20th century. And it is that The Czech brand made the decision to integrate into the Volkswagen group in 1991, the same path that others such as Seat had taken before..
This alliance gave the company a boost to reach the most global audiences, in addition to making its cars more modern and at the forefront of what the industry demanded at all times, regardless of the passage of time. In fact, the Octavia that was launched in those years (1995) had a Volkswagen platform and engine and was the first to be under the German umbrella. It must be said that this allowed the staff to be expanded in several of its departments, such as development.
8. The World Rally Championship has had his presence
Encouraged by this stage of growth that it was experiencing, Skoda began to compete in the World Rally Car (WRC) in 1999 with an Octavia and did so until 2005, although it did not always fully participate in those seasons. In that journey, his best result was a third place in the Safari Rally of Kenya in 2001. In 2003 they competed with a Fabia and two years later they said goodbye as an official team. They currently compete as suppliers to their “client-teams”, specifically the Germans from Toksport WRT, who have three Fabias.
9. Soccer also has a place for him
The Valencia Football Club and the Real Club Deportivo Espanyol trust Skoda as a sponsor and vehicle supplier for their respective players. It is common to see them on television arriving at the sports city to train on models such as the Karoq, the Kamiq or the Kodiaq.
10. New logo and design language
In August 2022, Skoda presented its new logo and the Vision 7S car, a prototype that will be released in 2026. The corporate image dispenses with the drawing of the wings and the arrow and focuses on reflecting the name of the company in a typography that advances its intentions for the future, with a futuristic aspect that is also reflected in that vehicle that we have just mentioned.
The Vision 7S debuts the design language that will set the Czech apart from the rest, with a look that puts the ideas of the logo into practice. It is a robust SUV, with seven seats inside its cabin and promises to standardize a range of 600 kilometers.