‹Focus›: You have been with
ŠKODA since 1993. But your
connection with the company
goes back much further than this.
‹Dr. Hrdlicka›: The ŠKODA tradition
is part of my family history. My
grandfather was the company’s first
CEO after ŠKODA took Laurin &
Klement over, and my father was
a member of the board. Mr. Laurin
and Mr. Klement, the original
founders, were family friends. So,
you could say it’s a family business!
‹Focus›: ŠKODA was born out
of the Laurin & Klement bicycle
factory which was founded in
1895. How much have those
humble beginnings influenced
the ŠKODA we know today?
‹Dr. Hrdlicka›: The Laurin &
Klement factory was established to
give the people of Bohemia a product
made by a local producer in their
own language. Their first bicycle was
called the Slavia, in reference to their
customers. Laurin & Klement produced
their first motorcycle in 1899
and first car in 1905.
We have always worked to provide
solutions to the needs of our customers,
and we continue to do this
around the world today. And this
always in combination with a perfect
value for money.
‹Focus›: How much of ŠKODA’s
approach to innovation was born
out of necessity?
‹Dr. Hrdlicka›: We have always
been about excellent technology
and expertise because we had to do
a lot with very little. And this approach
helped us build an almost
120-year motorsport tradition
– we even won the Monte
The first motorised bicycle built at the
Laurin & Klement factory.
Carlo rally and became known as
the Porsche of the East. When the
iron curtain fell, Volkswagen Group
recognized our excellence and saw
the value we could offer e.g. as part
of their engine development family.
‹Focus›: What role does ŠKODA
play in VW Group?
‹Dr. Hrdlicka›: We are responsible
for all MPI (multi-point injection)
engine development tasks for the
whole of Volkswagen Group. We are
producing Euro 6 compliant engines
for the European market, four-cylinder
engines for the Russian market
in our factory in Kaluga (outside
Moscow), and our factories in China
are building 1.4 and 1.5 liter MPI
engines. We have also designed engines
for VW for the Brazilian market
that run on ethanol. VW builds
about 10 million engines a year, of
which 2.5 million are MPI engines
that we are responsible for.
And it’s not just engines but also
systems such as gearboxes, electronic
stability control systems, chassis,
cooling systems, exhaust systems
and drum brakes. And we manage
and localize these technologies all
over the world.