The first public appearance of Skoda’s new Rapid will take place at the Paris Auto Show in late September, shortly before its European market launch in October, but the company commenced series production of its latest model on Friday, August 24.
The small sedan that bridges the gap between the Fabia and the Octavia will join these two models at Skoda’s Mladá Boleslav plant in the Czech Republic.
“Today, we give the green light for the series production of the new class of Skoda”, said the company’s chairman of the board Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland. “The car sets new standards in the compact class and is an important pillar of our growth strategy. It will appeal highly to our customers and strengthen the position of Skoda in international markets even further”, he added.
The launch of the Rapid has necessitated new facilities for its assembly, such as the mounting of different modules for the cockpit and the front and rear parts of the chassis.
In total, the expansion of the Mladá Boleslav factory has increased the assembly line by almost a third, with 17 production halls receiving changes and more than 170 different projects being implemented.
In 2013, a special, locally built version of the Rapid will be launched in China, while a year later Skoda will begin producing its new model at VW’s Kaluga plant, 170 km (105 miles) southwest of Moscow, for the Russian market.
PHOTO GALLERY
