The 18-millionth Skoda – a Superb Estate in Candy-White – has just rolled off the production line at the company’s Kvasiny plant in the Czech Republic.

Visiting the facility for the first time since his appointment in November 2015, Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier said; “Kvasiny is a production site with a great tradition and an outstanding team. You immediately sense the enthusiasm with which people carry out their tasks here. This is where automobile construction is lived, and implemented to an exemplary quality and efficiency. Today we have 18 million reasons to be proud of our employees’ performance. Without them, the success of the Skoda brand would be unimaginable.”

“Producing 18 million vehicles is an enormously high number,” said Jaroslav Povšík, Chairman of the Trade Union KOVO, “This milestone is an impressive demonstration of the skill our colleagues at Skoda have in car construction, and their great dedication to the company’s success over the past 120 years.”

The Kvasiny plant, one of Skoda’s three production sites in the Czech Republic, is currently undergoing extensive modernisation and expansion, and in future the production capacity of the facility will increase to 280,000 vehicles annually, creating up to 1,300 new jobs in the process.

Skoda Board Member for Production Michael Oeljeklaus said “Over the last five years, we have significantly increased the number of high-quality vehicles produced worldwide. The Skoda plants in the Czech Republic have made a significant contribution to this. This is the heart of our international production network. Since 1991, we have invested more than 300 billion crowns into modernizing and expanding our production facilities in the Czech Republic.”

Around 150,000 Skoda vehicles were produced at the Kvasiny plant in 2015 and 4,500 people are currently employed at the site.