????????????????????koda Auto Makes the Millionth Octavia

Press Release

The millionth ????????????????????koda Octavia car came down the assembly line in a ????????????????????koda Auto plant in Mlad?????????????????? Boleslav today (on Tuesday 17 February 2004 at 11.00 a.m.).

????????????????????koda Octavia is the first ????????????????????koda car developed and manufactured on the basis of technologies shared by the Volkswagen Group brands. The Octavia has become a symbol of fundamental rebirth of the whole enterprise contributing to restoration of the ????????????????????koda brand's prestige, image and respect. The car has become popular particularly thanks to its modern and timeless design, reliability, high-quality finish work, attractive price and low operating cost. The current Octavia has also won a number of awards: it reached the final of the "Car of the Year" contest in 1997; the Octavia estate version won the "1999 National Design Award in the Czech Republic" and the title the "Best Car of the Year 2000" in the estate category bestowed by the English Magazine Auto Express, to name but a few. The current Octavia's safety was also acknowledged in the autumn of 2001 by a crash test carried out by the independent association EuroNCAP. Winning four stars there, the first generation of the ????????????????????koda Octavia car, only equipped with one airbag, ranks among the safest cars of its class. The jubilee car is a ????????????????????koda Octavia Estate Ambiente in the "Graphite" grey frosted finish, powered by a fuel-efficient 1.9 TDI turbo diesel engine with direct injection delivering 66 kW. The car, the equipment of which includes Climatronic automatic air conditioning, sun roof, ABS, MBA, and ASR safety systems, and 16-inch light-alloy wheels, was manufactured to a Hungarian customer's direct order. The total number of a million Octavia cars produced includes 646,668 liftbacks and 353,332 estates. Customers took over 44,032 four-wheel drive cars - Octavia 4x4 and Octavia Estate 4x4, 14,069 Laurin & Klement luxury versions, and 13,286 Octavia RS and Octavia Estate RS sporty versions. All these special models are manufactured in a ????????????????????koda Auto plant at Vrchlab??????????????????. Karl-G??????????????????nter B??????????????????sching, a ????????????????????koda Auto corporate director responsible for production and logistics, said during the ceremony: "However, a fundamental success of a car depends not only on engineering and technology, but largely also on the skills and workmanship of those who take part in the car production ranging from car design to quality inspection prior to unhousing. That is why I would like to express thanks to our fellow workers, for their work and devotion." The first-generation ????????????????????koda Octavia car made its first appearance at the Paris Motor Show in September 1996. Its series production got under way at full speed in a newly built plant in Mlad?????????????????? Boleslav even in the same year. The ????????????????????koda Octavia Estate version was presented at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt one year later. The Octavia model became the basis for the first ????????????????????koda four-wheel drive car in the brand's modern history - the Octavia Estate 4x4 was launched in 1999 while the liftback version was put on the market in the spring of 2001. The sporty Octavia RS has been available since 2000; it was completed with the Estate RS version in the summer of 2002. The second-generation ????????????????????koda Octavia car will make its official exhibition debut on 2nd March 2004 - on the opening day of the Geneva International Motor Show. In terms of design, it is a brand new car using high technology; from the point of view of its style and concept, it based upon its successful predecessor. The ????????????????????koda Auto authorized dealers will offer the first Octavias of the new generation from early next summer. Given a long-term great interest shown by the customers (the current Octavia model reached record sales last year selling 165,635 units), the first-generation Octavia will continue to be manufactured simultaneously along with the new model.