Skoda gets more production capacity for SUVs

Skoda will gain the production capacity it has been lacking in recent years when production of the Superb midsize car moves to parent Volkswagen Group's multibrand plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2023.

The Superb is currently built in Skoda's Kvasiny plant in the Czech Republic alongside the Karoq and Kodiaq SUVs. The success of those SUVs has led to increased waiting times as Skoda struggled to find alternative production locations.

VW Group's latest five-year investment program includes shifting Superb production to Bratislava. The Superb's sister model, the VW Passat, currently built in Emden, Germany, will be also moved to Bratislava.

Moving the Superb to Bratislava will allow Skoda to build more SUVs and also give the brand capacity for a new, unnamed model, Skoda said. "Customers will benefit from the overall increase in production capacity as they will be presented with shorter lead times," Skoda said in a statement.

Skoda has previously said an entry-level electric car underpinned by a new, low-cost platform will be built at Kvasiny.

Skoda built 79,013 Superbs at Kvasiny last year, the brand's own data shows. It also produced 101,586 of the Kodiaq midsize SUV.

Production of the smaller Karoq SUV is currently split between Kvasiny and Skoda's flagship Mlada Boleslav plant in the Czech Republic, and the automaker did not separate out production numbers.

Skoda also builds the Ateca SUV for VW Group's Seat brand at Kvasiny, but it did not say whether that model would continue to be produced there under the new plans.

Skoda's need for extra production began a search for an additional VW Group plant, with Turkey initially chosen as the location for production of the Superb and Passat.

However, group CEO Herbert Diess recently told Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive News Europe, that the coronavirus pandemic had forced the automaker to reassess its production requirements, leading to cancellation of the Turkey plant and the increased investment in Bratislava.

The Bratislava plant builds the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q7, Audi Q8 and Porsche Cayenne SUVs, alongside the VW Up, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii minicars, according to Automotive News Europe's Assembly Plant Map. Bodies for the Bentley Bentayga SUV are also built at the factory.

VW will build a new assembly line and a new body shop at Bratislava as part of the expansion, which will cost nearly 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion). The production of the minicars is expected to end as VW Group exits the segment because of falling sales.