“I am aware of the expectations and concerns associated with me. Will Škoda be a cheap brand at the Dacia level, am I just the viceroy of Herbert Diess?
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“I will not reject the work of my predecessors. My goal is to continue the successful course of the Škoda brand in the coming years. I also emphasized this in my meeting with the Prime Minister. It is clear that sometimes it is not possible without conflict or quarrels, but I will always defend our goal, “he continues.
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He describes the discussion about Škoda’s future position as rather emotional. He told the works council that “there is no dispute about the position of the brand as such, but there is a critical discussion about the distribution of supply and production of cars.”
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“Our models provide a great price-performance ratio, positively surprise with space and ease of use,” he said. “We want to build new potential for some markets and become more attractive to other layers of customers. Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Opel and the French are our key competitors, we will attack there, “said Schäfer.
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According to the weekly, Schäfer also mentioned that his goal is to represent the brand more strongly in Wolfsburg. “We are successful, we have great ideas and sometimes even better cars than in the parent company, which then leads to envy. I hope that I will be able to mediate relationships for a quiet job, “he said.
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Questions come from all sides
Fifty-year-old Schäfer responds to numerous speculations with his words. The change to the highest position within Škoda Auto has brought with it concerns from the beginning regarding the future focus of the carmaker. You except opinion of some analysts supported by the head of the Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess. He told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on August 1 that Škoda was “not aggressive enough” in competition with the Koreans and the French in terms of the volume of cars sold.
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“It is useless to us when Škoda develops to the third premium brand within the group,” said Diess, comparing Škoda’s direction to the Volkswagen and Audi positions.
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Similar moods were caused by further speculation about the relocation of production of the largest models, the superb and kodiaq, outside the Czech plants.
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“Isn’t this campaign against Škoda enough yet?” In popular terms, do we have to gut Damage from all the good, excellent things we currently have? It is a clear degradation and a path towards Dacia and God forbid under Dacia, “commented union leader Jaroslav Povšík in the Škoda Skoda magazine in September. According to him, the unions will fight against it in the press, with the government, with the public and in the Volkswagen Group.
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Due to the above-mentioned concerns, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček also met with Schäfer at the end of August. After the meeting, the Prime Minister stated that Škoda Auto plans further growth and “will continue to produce top cars, maintaining a very high level of investment in research and development from recent years. There will be no retreat from quality and a move to the low-cost segment. “
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