Škoda: Guide to everything you need to know

Skoda has a relatively short history in Australia, less than 20 years, but overseas it is one of Europe’s oldest car manufacturers.

The company offers a variety of cars, sedans, wagons and SUVs, most of which will receive major and minor updates in the coming year.

Because the brand is part of the Volkswagen Group, you also get technology and equipment that keeps Skoda models in line with tried and tested models like the Golf and Tiguan, while still maintaining competitive pricing.

If you’re considering buying a new European car and don’t mind opting for something less mainstream, here’s everything you need to know about the Skoda brand and how it grew to where it is today.

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What is Skoda?

Skoda was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. In 2023, the company recorded 866,820 vehicle deliveries worldwide, although Germany remains the company’s largest market with 157,837 deliveries.

Skoda is one of 10 European brands in the Volkswagen Group, which sold a total of 9,239,512 vehicles globally last year. That makes Skoda the group’s third-best-selling brand, behind Volkswagen Passenger Cars and the Audi Brand Group Progressive, which includes Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati.

The Skoda name can be traced back to 1859, when Czech engineer Emil von Škoda founded the Skoda Works company in the former Austrian Empire. That company became one of Europe’s largest industrial conglomerates during the 1900s.

In a separate development in 1896, a bicycle repair shop (and later manufacturer) was established in the Czech Republic by Václav Laurin and Václav Klement were known as Laurin and Klement. By 1905 the company was producing cars and became the second oldest Czech manufacturer after Tatra.

After World War I, Laurin and Klement began producing trucks but soon encountered many problems, including a factory fire, after which the company began looking for new partners.

After the war, the Skoda Works company became the largest industrial manufacturer in Czechoslovakia, although initially an arms manufacturer, the company wanted to expand its activities into other non-arms industries.

As a result, the struggling Laurin and Klement company was acquired by the Skoda Works in 1925. Most of the latter’s production took place under the Skoda name, and the company began using assembly lines for production from 1930.

That same year, car manufacturing operations were transferred to a new official subsidiary, although that company remained a wholly owned subsidiary of Skoda Works and continued to sell cars under the Skoda name.

While Skoda Works continues to operate its car manufacturing plant in Mladá Boleslav, the new manufacturing company, is home to the brand’s sales representative, sales office and central production workshop in Prague.

An interesting fact is that the word Skoda translates from Czech as “What a shame!”; like a statement of pity.

One of the company’s first cars was the Skoda 422 in 1929, followed by the Skoda 932 prototype in 1932. The latter prototype was a four-seater, two-door car with an air-cooled, horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine in the rear, looking more like the small cars that came later.

During World War II, Skoda Works became part of the German war effort, producing military vehicles, aircraft and other weapons. After the war and the rebuilding of its main factory in the Czech Republic, the company maintained a good reputation despite the adverse political conditions in that country.

The first of the company’s most recognisable cars was introduced in 1959, although not in the same shape as we know it today. It was the Octavia, in its first iteration it was produced until 1971 alongside other models such as the Spartak and Felicia.

As the Cold War progressed, it became increasingly difficult for Skoda to sell cars in markets like the United States, especially since it was still making cars that dated back to the 1960s. As a result, most of the company’s efforts were directed primarily toward Western European markets.

Still with most of the cars obsolete (except for the 1987 front-wheel drive Favorit), a state-issued tender to privatize the Skoda brand took place in 1990. After a lengthy decision-making process with Renault and Volkswagen on the shortlist, the latter was chosen by the Czech government.

A joint venture began in 1991 when the Volkswagen Group owned 30% of Skoda, increasing to a 70% holding by the end of 1995. In 2000, Volkswagen acquired the remaining 30% to make Skoda a wholly owned subsidiary.

The 2000s and 2010s were a period of significant growth for Skoda as the company ramped up production and expanded operations to more than 100 countries – including Australia in 2007.

Skoda currently operates factories in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, India and China, and also participates in lower-level competitions of the World Rally Championship.

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Which brands is Skoda competing with?

In Australia, Skoda competes primarily with car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Volvo, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia.

Volkswagen is a major competitor due to its relationship with Skoda, which means that cars from both brands share many of the same parts and mechanisms.

While Volkswagen has more choice in Australia, key models like the Golf, Tiguan and Tiguan Allspace compete closely with models like the Scala, Karoq and Kodiaq.

In 2023 alone, Volkswagen sold a total of around 15,000 vehicles of these three models, while Skoda sold a total of 7,999 vehicles in the same period.

In addition to its European rivals, Skoda competes with Toyota in the Australian market. As the top-selling manufacturer locally with a wide range of models, many Toyota models such as the Camry and RAV4 are formidable rivals to Skoda’s sedans and SUVs.

In a landscape of spacious mid-size and large SUVs, Hyundai’s current and future models will pose stiff competition to Skoda.

Hyundai delivered 75,183 vehicles in 2023, far outpacing Skoda’s total. Its most popular model, the Tucson, sold 21,224 vehicles compared to the Skoda Karoq’s record of 1,405 during the same period.

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What can you buy from Skoda right now?

Skoda currently sells seven models in Australia, ranging from small hatchbacks to large SUVs.

The list of Skoda cars in Australia is as follows:

All prices are quoted live. Click on the vehicle name to be taken to the landing page on our website.

Skoda’s lineup offers a variety of engines, including a 1.0-liter three-cylinder, a 1.4-liter four-cylinder, a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder.

They are produced in different states of tune, meaning that basic models are offered with a less powerful version of the engine, while high-performance models like Skoda’s RS get more power despite having the same engine capacity.

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How popular is Skoda in Australia?

Skoda recorded 7999 deliveries in 2023, making it one of the Volkswagen Group’s lowest-selling brands in Australia.

Its best-selling companion is Volkswagen, which recorded 43,821 deliveries last year. It was also surpassed by Audi, which recorded 19,039 deliveries.

Among non-luxury Volkswagen brands, Skoda ranked higher than Cupra with 3,765 deliveries. The remaining brands were Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche, with 241, 229 and 6,052 deliveries respectively.

The Kamiq was Skoda’s best-selling model in 1985, followed by the Kodiaq (1555), Karoq (1405) and Octavia (1395). The company’s best-selling model was the Superb at 278, although it was recently confirmed that the company’s latest generation will be sold in Australia next year

Compared to its competitors, Skoda is still quite far behind Volkswagen, Volvo, Toyota and Hyundai.

Toyota remains Australia’s top-selling brand, with 215,240 deliveries in 2023. Hyundai also posted impressive numbers, selling 75,183 vehicles last year.

Skoda delivered 3,408 vehicles in Australia in the year to the end of July 2024, with the Kamiq remaining its best-selling model with 837 deliveries. Overall sales were down 25.3 per cent year-on-year.

To give you an idea, Volkswagen sold 21,407 vehicles by the end of July 2024, down 10.6% from the first half of 2023.

At the start of 2023, Skoda outlined a sales target of 12,000 units for the year. By mid-year, Skoda Australia managing director Michael Irmer back to that goalcited loss of volume and changes in consumer behavior as the causes.

The revised target was 9,185 – Skoda’s 2021 benchmark – but it was not met. Part of the problem was supply chain shortages from 2022 to 2023, including a shortage of semiconductor chips.

Skoda remains a top seller in Europe, especially Germany and the Czech Republic, and there are a number of updates coming to the local range.

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What will Skoda do next?

Skoda has recently outlined plans for a series of launches, updates and additions, all of which are expected to take place over the next year.

Facelifted versions of the Kamiq and Fabia Select were launched this year, while a facelifted version of the Scala small car is expected to arrive in September.

The facelifted Octavia will be launched in November this year, followed by the all-electric Enyaq SUV in December.

Starting in 2025 will see the launch of the next-generation Kodiaq, followed by a high-performance RS version of the facelifted Octavia.

May will see the launch of the next-generation Superb, followed by the new electric Elroq in July. The same month will also see the launch of the new-generation Kodiaq RS.

It’s not yet known which platform the Elroq will use, but it’s expected to offer a smaller battery than the larger Enyaq, which uses lithium-ion battery packs ranging in capacity from 52kWh to 77kWh.

The Elroq is expected to replace the Karoq at launch, although there are a number of other electric Skoda cars on the way as part of Skoda’s previous plan to launch six electric cars by 2026. Most of them were revealed as concepts and have been detailed. This.

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