The adoption of this emission standard would in practice mean that Škoda Auto would have to stop producing 1.0 TSI engines, which would probably happen after 2026 if strict regulation was approved. As the European Commission pushes to reduce CO2 emissions in new cars, the share of conventional cars produced in European car plants will decrease. According to unions, by 2030, up to 70 percent of the cars produced could be electric cars.
Therefore, Škoda Auto has to deal with, for example, what it will produce in its plant in Vrchlabí in the future. Today, this factory is designed for the production of gearboxes. However, they have no use in electric cars. The future of the plant and employees in Vrchlabí thus largely depends on whether the carmaker manages to expand production with another product that is not endangered by the transition to electromobility.
Škoda Auto already has several plans today to keep employment as high as possible. “Our Board of Directors and Jaroslav Povšík, Chairman of the Kovo Unions, fought together to get a 1.5 TSI engine into production. And I can already say that this engine was knocked down on us. Our goal is to switch to these units, which is technically feasible and will not be dramatically expensive. This will extend our employment in the field of internal combustion engines by several years, “said Michael Oeljeklaus, a member of the Board of Directors for production and logistics, for the Škoda trade union.