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SKODA

30 entries

Czech carmaker with roots in a bicycle workshop of 1895, owned by the Volkswagen Group since 2000.

Established: 1896, as the successor to Laurin & Klement
Headquarters: Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
Owner: Volkswagen Group, since 2000
State owned: From 1948 until privatisation began in 1991

The company that became Škoda Auto began as a bicycle workshop opened by Václav Klement and Václav Laurin in Mladá Boleslav in 1895, which built its own bicycles under the Slavia name from 1896 and its first car, the Voiturette A, in 1905.

The Škoda Works took over Laurin & Klement in 1925. The car business became state owned in 1948 and was privatised from 1991, ending as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000.

1895Laurin & Klement workshop opened
1896Bicycles built under the Slavia name
1905First automobile, the Voiturette A
1925Acquired by the Škoda Works
2000Wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group