Good news for Skoda as Volkswagen’s Czech unit is on course to reach its 2008 sales target of 700,000 vehciles worldwide by the end of 2008. “After three months, we are on target and should reach this figure at the end of the year,” said Skoda spokesman Jaroslav Cerny, without giving any more details though.

Skoda, which has production sites in the Czech Republic, China, Russia, India and Ukraine managed to sell 630,032 cars in 2007 contributing to the VW Group’s full-year profit by approximately 13 percent.

Via: Yahoo

On Wednesday, April 23, the two millionth Škoda Fabia was produced in Mladá Boleslav. The vehicle marking the two-millionth threshold for Škoda’s smallest model is a Satin grey metallic Fabia Combi Sport 1.4 16V 63 kW.

Launched this year in January, the new-generation Fabia Combi has already been delivered to 19,503 customers. As a result, the total number of customers choosing a Fabia model over this period is 63,579 (+ 8.5 %).

The Fabia is manufactured in the Mladá Boleslav plant and also assembled in Russia, India and the Ukraine. The milestone-marking Fabia Combi is going to find its owner in Sweden.

Get a load of Skoda’s latest estate! This is the first official picture of the new Fabia wagon, which will make its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Aiming to capitalise on the previous version’s popularity, the car will give Peugeot’s new 207 SW some tough competition in the growing supermini estate market.

As you can see, the Skoda carries on the styling themes of the hatchback, with a classy but understated look.

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Skoda is jumping on the environmental bandwagon as well. The Czech maker is launching a new eco-friendly Fabia – badged Greenline – at the Frankfurt Show. And with CO2 emissions of 110g/km and 70mpg fuel economy, it certainly lives up to its name.

Externally, only the use of low rolling resistance tyres marks out the eco-friendly machine. Inside, luxuries such as electric windows and air-con have been dumped in an effort to save weight.

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It looks as if Skoda is about to go exploring again. This is the Fabia Scout – a rugged version of the new Estate. As with the Octavia and Roomster Scout variants, it has protective body mouldings and a raised ride height. To that it adds a handy, fold-out rear ledge and a system of luggage straps in the boot. With more room than a Volvo V50 and chunky looks, it should prove popular when it goes on sale next year, priced from around £12,000. A facelifted Octavia will also arrive in 2008.

Source: autoеxprеss.co.uk

This eco-friendly Greenline version of the Fabia Estate is heading for the UK.

It has a three-cylinder 1.4-litre TDI diesel and hi-tech exhaust recirculation system, while power-sapping luxuries such as air-con and electric windows are dropped. It can do 70mpg and emits only 110g/km of CO2. The car is expected to arrive in the UK next year.

More images inside

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Over the past year, Škoda Auto supplied a total of 449,758 customers worldwide with Fabia, Octavia, and Superb model range cars (2002: 445,525). In spite of a globally tough boom and stronger competitive pressures on particular markets, the auto maker has increased its sales by 1.0%. In 2003, the Fabia became the best-selling Škoda model range with 260,988 units sold (2002: 264,641) almost reaching the previous year’s level. During the same year, the Octavia achieved record-breaking sales with 165,635 units (2002: 164,017, which means +1.0%). The Škoda Superb recorded the highest sales increase (+37.2%) with 23,135 cars sold on the European market (2002: 16,867).

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Move over conservative Skoda, and make room for the Roomster! The concept car stunned onlookers at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, and its styling was expected to be toned down for the roadgoing version.

But as the pictures in this week’s mag – taken with a long lens – show, that’s clearly not the case. And while the show car’s glass roof panels and one-piece tailgate won’t make production, fans of the original design won’t be disappointed.

The tall proportions of the practical little car have been retained, as have the distinctively shaped front side windows. The high-set rear light clusters of the road car are also familiar. The concept had only one sliding rear door, but practicality will be boosted on the production version, with a door on each side. The large rear side windows also help to give the new model a striking profile, and should ensure the spacious cabin has an airy feel.

Prices have yet to be announced, but the Roomster will compete head-on with the likes of the Renault Modus. A Skoda spokeswoman said: “We always offer an extra bit of car for the money.”

The production Roomster is set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and it should arrive in showrooms in the UK by September.

Czech giant Skoda is set to join the space race with an eagerly anticipated estate based on the huge Superb.

Our exclusive image is the best indication yet of how the new car will look when it’s officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October. Crucially, it’s the first time that Skoda has offered its flagship Superb line-up with a load-lugger.

And our spies caught engineers testing a blue proto-type, which uses the Octavia bodywork to disguise its longer platform and higher roofline. This is the first proof the firm is working on a rival to the Volvo V70.

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