Škoda Auto, more commonly known as Škoda, is an automotive manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group. Its total global sales reached 684,226 cars in 2009 and 85,000 for the month of March 2011.
Škoda Works was established as an arms manufacturer in 1859. The origins of what became Škoda Auto go back to the early 1890s where, like many long-established car manufacturers, a company started out manufacturing bicycles. It was 1894, and 26-year old Václav Klement, who was a bookseller in Mladá Boleslav, in today's Czech Republic, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, was unable to obtain spare parts to repair his German bicycle. Klement returned his bicycle to the manufacturers, Seidel and Naumann, with a letter, in Czech, asking them to carry out repairs, only to receive a reply, in German, stating: "If you would like an answer to your inquiry, you should try writing in a language we can understand". A disgusted Klement, despite not having technical experience, decided to start a bicycle repair shop, which he and Václav Laurin opened in 1895 in Mladá Boleslav. Before going into business partnership with Klement, Laurin was established as a bicycle manufacturer in the nearby town of Turnov. In 1898, after moving to their newly-built factory, the pair bought a Werner "motorcyclist", which was produced by French manufacturer Werner Brothers. Laurin & Klement's first motorcyclette, powered by an engine mounted on the handlebars driving the front wheels, proved dangerous and unreliable an early incident on it cost Laurin a front tooth. To design a safer machine with its structure around the engine, the pair wrote to German ignition specialist Robert Bosch for advice on a different electromagnetic system. The pair's new Slavia motorcycle made its debut in 1899.
In 1900, when the company had a workforce of 32, Slavia exports began, with 150 machines shipped to London for the Hewtson firm. Shortly afterwards, the press credited them as makers of the first motorcycle. The first model, Voiturette A, was a success and the company was established both within Austria-Hungary and internationally. By 1905 the firm was manufacturing automobiles.
After World War I the Laurin-Klement company began producing trucks, but in 1924, after running into problems and being hit by a fire, the company sought a partner, and was acquired by Škoda Works, an arms manufacturer which had become a multi-sector concern and the biggest industrial enterprise in Czechoslovakia. Most later production was under the Škoda name. After a decline during the economic depression, Škoda was again successful with models such as the Popular in the late 1930s.
During the World War II Occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Škoda works was turned into part of Reichswerke Hermann Göring serving the German World War II effort.
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