SKODA has produced the 15-millionth car. The jubilee vehicle – a silver third-generation ŠKODA Octavia – rolled off the assembly line at ŠKODA's main plant in Mladá Boleslav. The vehicle will be used as a VIP sedan at the ŠKODA Technology Center in Cesana.

The 15 million car threshold underlines the dynamic growth of the brand. At the beginning of 2012, ŠKODA had produced the 14-millionth car. In the past six years alone, one third or approx. five million vehicles rolled off the assembly lines. The car manufacturer wants to increase worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million units per year by 2018. In 2012, ŠKODA sold 939,200 vehicles - more than ever in one year.

"The entire ŠKODA team is very proud of the million jubilee," says ŠKODA chairman of the board, Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. "15 million produced cars are a symbol for the great development of the ŠKODA brand. We have been building vehicles for 118 years and automobiles since the year 1905.

Thus we are among the automobile brands with the richest traditions in the world," says Vahland. In the coming years, ŠKODA wants to continue to speed up development and sell at least 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2018. Launching the Citigo, Rapid and the new Octavia, the greatest model offensive in company's history has had a successful start. In total ŠKODA will launch 8 new or reworked models in 2013.

A class of its own

In the coming days, the new ŠKODA Octavia will be launched in the Czech Republic and Germany, while other markets will follow in a few weeks. The ŠKODA Octavia is the brand's core product and outsells other ŠKODA models by far," says the ŠKODA boss. In 2012, the Octavia accounted for about 44 percent of the brand's worldwide sales. Like no other car, the Octavia symbolizes the rapid success story of the brand over the past two decades. Since 1996, about 3.75 million Octavias have been delivered to customers.