But, many people ask themselves: “Where is the Skoda Octavia assembled?” - It is this important aspect that I would like to consider in this article.
Factory in the Czech Republic
The main plant of Skoda Auto is the Czech Republic (Mlada Boleslav).The head office of the Škoda concern is located in the Czech city of Mlada Boleslav, where the main production facilities of the company are located.
Almost all car production is automated, so the basis of jobs is the control of equipment. In addition to the production of Skoda cars, some parts for Audi and Volkswagen cars are produced here. Production at the plant is largely automated, but despite this, the number of jobs is quite large. Many operations are performed by smart robots that need to be controlled by a person. Thanks to constant modernization and clear German management, the plant is one of the most modern in Europe and certainly the best in the Czech Republic.
Every day, 2,000 Czech-assembled cars leave the assembly lines of the plant, and according to the company's plans, this figure should increase to 3,000. Around the world, about 700,000 cars manufactured by this plant are bought annually. The entire line of Skoda cars is produced here, including the Octavia model. To date, this is not the only plant that assembles serial Skoda Octavia III cars.
Skoda production in Russia
To promote your vehicles on Russian market the Skoda company has established the production of its cars in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod. The Kaluga plant opened in November 2007. Thanks to large investments and modern equipment, today a full assembly cycle of the Skoda Octavia is being carried out in Kaluga. October 2, 2012 Skoda Octavia became the 200,000th anniversary car produced at the plant.
One of the assembly stages of the Skoda Octavia at the plant in Kaluga. And in 2013, the production of Skoda Octavia began at the Gaz Group plant in Nizhny Novgorod. There, Octavia also goes through all the stages of assembly from body welding to painting. Also, a crossover of the Skoda brand - Yeti is assembled at this plant.
The opening of assembly plants in other countries allows Skoda to increase its competitiveness in the car market. So, Russian residents can buy a locally assembled Skoda car 10% cheaper compared to a car assembled in the Czech Republic. You should not worry about the quality of cars that are produced in Russia. All cars are assembled on modern equipment, and German quality control will not allow a car with defective elements to enter the market.
Assembly video of Skoda cars
Full assembly cycle Skoda Octavia
SHOW
HOLD
Many potential owners of this excellent vehicle wondering where the car is assembled Skoda Yeti. For some buyers, the choice of the country of assembly is no less important than the choice of equipment and color of the car.
Enterprises
They assemble the Skoda Yeti car in many countries, including at home in the Czech Republic. It is here that the largest number of cars of this brand is produced. The production capacity in this country is represented by three plants, the largest of which is located in Mlade Boleslav. Enterprises specializing in the manufacture of automobiles from ready-made components, operate in Russia, Ukraine and a number of other countries, which we will not talk about now.
IN Russian Skoda Yeti is assembled at two car factories, one of which is located near Kaluga. It was opened in 2007 in the technopark Grabtsevo. There are a lot of gatherings here Skoda models. There is a company next door that manufactures some of the components needed to adapt machines to Russian roads. Vessels come with body and interior parts from the Czech Republic. Assembly, welding and painting are carried out here.
The second place in Russia where the Skoda Yeti is assembled is GAZ in Nizhny Novgorod. After unsuccessful attempts to produce modern cars, the enterprise switched to work in the format of a contract assembler. At its facilities, it assembles cars of third-party brands, including Skoda cars.
On the territory of Ukraine, Skoda Yeti is assembled at the Eurocar plant located near Uzhgorod. This plant began operating in 2001 and is now one of the most powerful plants in the holding.
Why collect Skoda Yeti in other countries
It would seem, why spend money on opening new enterprises in other countries, if the Czech Republic already has the necessary production capacities. It is more profitable to modernize and improve existing plants than to create new ones.
The determining factor in such a policy is profit. The fact is that a finished car imported to Russia is subject to higher taxes than if it were imported for spare parts. Our labor force is cheaper than in Europe, which saves a lot of money. The assembly can also be reduced in cost by arranging the manufacture of some components. Economic benefit is the main reason that the Skoda Yeti is assembled in the country where it is planned to be sold.
Lightweight process
The technology of work implies that the car comes to the car assembly plant disassembled into three parts. The car kit consists of:
- body, assembled together with the interior;
- motor assembled together with the front suspension;
- rear suspension with cardan shaft.
The assembly process is completed in seven cycles, each of which takes up to 20 minutes. It takes no more than three hours to receive the finished car.
Parts arrive at the factory railway from factories in the Czech Republic. From there come kits created from finished cars. It turns out that finished car dismantled at the factory, and then transported as a kit to Russia, where further work is carried out.
A perceptible difference between the cars of the Czech and Russian production does not exist. All machines are made from original parts, and the quality of the assembly does not depend on the country in which it is made, but on the specific company and its quality standards. They assemble Skoda Yeti under license, so finished cars Russian assembly meet all European quality standards.
Over the past eleven years that have passed since the reincarnation of the Octavia model at the Skoda plant, for hundreds of thousands of people, not only in the Czech Republic itself, but also far beyond its borders, the phrase Skoda Octavia has become a symbolic concept. For the designers who had a hand in its creation, it has become synonymous with success and technological breakthrough, for auto -
owners - synonymous with high reliability and comfort
for a reasonable price.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in our country, where sales of Skoda Octavia in 2007 amounted to almost 20,000 units, on the eve of the start of the Octavia SKD assembly in Kaluga, domestic lovers of the Czech brand broke many copies in heated disputes that flared up mainly when discussing the price and quality of Russian-assembled Skoda cars.
The fact of a massive reduction in selling prices for the entire range of Octavia cars at the beginning of this year speaks for itself, but we tried to find out how the quality of the last generation Skoda Octavia assembled by Russian specialists has changed by testing a car assembled in Kaluga.
For the test, we chose the Octavia in the Ambiente package, with a 1.6 FSI engine and a 6-speed tiptronic automatic transmission.
Appearance
Undoubtedly, Skoda Octavia, among other golf-class cars, is an example of solidity and respectability. The impressive dimensions of the car body, along with its emphasized strict and concise contours, are in no way associated with compact, nimble cars that inhabit this class of cars. Strictly speaking, with a ruler in hand, Octavia cannot be called anything other than an “overgrown”, its place is in the next car class. But such an entry in the car’s metrics favorably distinguishes it from other “classmates” and allows us to speak of it as a “golf premium” class car or, to be more precise, a “golf business” class, taking into account its amazing external resemblance to Skoda sedan superb.
Even with a meticulous inspection of the car, we could not find anything that would clearly indicate that we had an Octavia assembled in Kaluga. Nothing but the "X" badge, which begins with all VIN codes of Octavia cars of the Russian series.
First meeting
First exit from the parking lot carriageway accompanied by our slight confusion. Seeing a small gap in the traffic flow, we press the gas pedal to the floor, the engine instantly responds, spins up to more than five thousand revolutions, and the car stands rooted to the spot in its original place. The thought flashes through my head: “Did you turn on the gear, uncle?”, But then you catch yourself: “well, what a gear, because the box is an “automatic”. At that moment, the internal monologue is interrupted by the jerk of the car forward...
In move
During the entire first day of the test, some “thoughtfulness” of the six-speed “automatic”, in drive mode, accompanied by a strained roar of the engine, more than once made itself felt both when starting off, and when overtaking, and even just when trying to smoothly accelerate. Mutual irritation accumulated until, finally, we managed to "feel" electronic pedal gas, which turned out to be extremely demanding (in drive mode) on the degree of effort applied to it, and the “automatic” to adapt to our driving style.
Most of all, the drive mode should appeal to all supporters of measured driving. The “automatic” instantly responds to the alignment of the speed of the car by connecting the highest, sixth gear, while the car speed can be equal to both 50 and 40 km / h.
When transferring the gear selector to "sport" mode, all reactions of the car are instantly aggravated. Now, with all its mass, it sensitively reacts to each, even the most insignificant pressing on the gas pedal, predictably varying all five steps allowed in this gear mode. However, even in the sport power A 1.6-liter engine with the gas pedal completely recessed into the floor is not enough for the car to take off with breathtaking acceleration (well, or at least with an overload of 2g).
The advantages of the "manual mode" are especially good on country roads. Thanks to the ability to “spur” the car at any time by “forced” the engine in one of the lower gears, a complete feeling of driving a car with manual transmission. At the same time, in manual mode, when braking, the “automatic” automatically switches to downshift, correlating its step with the speed of the car.
The same mode, better than others, allows you to evaluate the "elasticity" of the engine. Experimentally, we found that at a speed of 60 km / h on a flat stretch of road, even in sixth gear, the engine confidently carries a car with two riders and their simple belongings.
By the way, for all three days of the test, taking into account all the loads that fell to the share of the engine, the average fuel consumption in the combined city-highway cycle was 11.2 liters, which is not bad for a car with such a mass.
Unlike the gas pedal, we didn’t have to get used to the brake pedal: the car responded with adequate deceleration to the appropriate degree of effort applied to it, and each time it felt that their potential was far from being exhausted.
For the front Skoda review Octavia can be rated 4.5 points. Front visibility of the car does not cause any complaints. Moreover, the front edge of the hood is clearly visible from the driver's seat, which is very convenient when maneuvering in a confined space or in heavy traffic. Half a point is “eaten up” by voluminous A-pillars that cover a small side-view sector.
With the rear view of the car, things are much worse. The small area of the side mirrors and rear-view mirrors make it difficult for the driver to be aware of traffic situation behind him, and the high “stern” of the car creates difficulties when driving in reverse and parking. Therefore, in this case, it is better not to save on an electronic parking attendant. 
Bumps, rails, holes
The front suspension of the Octavia - the latest generation, like its predecessor - Octavia Tour, and consists of MacPherson struts with lower triangular wishbones and a stabilizer roll stability. And here rear suspension its own, multi-link, with one longitudinal and three transverse levers and a stabilizer bar, thanks to which it was possible to significantly improve the smoothness of the car, its handling and stability.
On the track, Octavia confidently holds the road, and even when it gets into a deep rut, the car does not start to “throw” from side to side, moreover, it simply does not “notice” it.
Neither bumps nor railway crossings encountered on the way left unpleasant memories in our memory, and, if not for one “but”, one could say that the Octavia suspension frankly pleased with its energy intensity. However, due to the increased ground clearance that is typical for cars with a bad road package, the car's suspension does not always dampen rebound well, as evidenced by a thud when the car's wheel hits a hole.
Speaking about Octavia soundproofing, it should be noted that it left a double impression of itself. On the one hand, it well protects the passengers of the car from engine noise and street noise. On the other hand, when driving on an asphalt road, the interior of the car was constantly filled with a rumble from car wheels, which you can get used to, but which you cannot put up with. And it's on summer tires! It is not difficult to guess that winter tires reaching such a compromise would be much more difficult.
Interior
The interior of the Octavia with her appearance all the same emphasized rigor, conciseness and functionality are related.
Two huge, well-read scales of the speedometer and tachometer, outlined by thin silver rims, even rolled into the farthest corners of the instrument panel, leave very little free space next to them, sufficient only for a narrow oblong window where the coolant temperature and fuel level sensors are located, Yes, the blue field of the Maxi-DOT multifunction display, which displays information about the duration of the trip, instantaneous fuel consumption, the amount of fuel in the tank, ambient temperature, etc., including, importantly, information about the automatic transmission mode .
A wide range of adjustments for the position of the driver's seat and the steering column of the car allows you to easily and quickly get comfortable in the driver's seat. In addition to the usual adjustments of the front seats, in the Ambiente configuration, the driver's seat and the passenger's seat are equipped with a microlift, and also have the function
lumbar support, thanks to which it is enough for a person of any height and complexion to spend only one or two minutes to comfortably get behind the wheel.
The front panel of the car, as well as the side door linings, are made of high-quality soft graphite-like plastic and decorated with aluminum inserts that effectively cut the interior into upper and lower parts.
The instrument panel console is crowned by a two-din Stream radio with an AM/FM tuner, RDS system, CD/mp3 player and a large DOT display, which can additionally display information about the temperature outside or in the cabin, a diagram of zones scanned by parking sensors, as well as information about the equipment used for mobile phone in hands free mode.
Below are the controls for the two-zone air conditioning system with electronic control climatronic. The system can be set to one of two modes of operation - automatic or economical, and a whole system of sensors monitors the maintenance of the temperature in the passenger compartment.
Passengers sitting behind are not forgotten either. At their service, an air duct is brought to the rear row of seats, through which, depending on the time of year, a stream of hot or cold air enters.
The large size of the buttons and other control elements of the vehicle systems located on the instrument console attracts attention. Their size leaves no doubt that it will be equally convenient to work with them both for graceful fingers, decorated with long nails, and for fingers of a huge hand that do not know manicure ...
A good word is also deserved by numerous various drawers, cavities and pockets scattered throughout the interior of the car and capable of accommodating a large number of both small and fairly large items. For example, one and a half liter plastic bottles of water are easily placed in the pockets of the front doors. If necessary, on a hot day, the same bottle can be cooled by placing it in the glove compartment or in the armrest, after uncorking the cold air supply valve in them.
The Octavia trunk is a real "occupier's dream"! Its capacity is 528 liters, and to organize order in all this vast space, the car's designers prudently placed special brackets around the entire perimeter of its floor, for which hooks of fixing nets are attached.
For transporting long loads, the rear seat backrest can be folded arbitrarily in the ratio of 60:40, but this forms a small step with the boot floor.
Security
In terms of passive safety systems, our Octavia was "packed" to the maximum. In addition to the airbags for the driver and passenger that are mandatory for all cars of this series, the model is equipped with airbags that, when triggered, cover the entire area of the side glazing from the front to rear pillar, thus protecting both the front and rear passengers. Another pair of side airbags is hidden in the ends of the front row of seats.
Also, all Octavia car seats are equipped with standard three-point seat belts with pretensioners, and the front ones are also equipped with force limiters.
According to the results of the crash tests in all categories, the Octavia earned all the same ratings as its predecessor. At the same time, the installation of curtain airbags on the car allowed Octavia to score the maximum number of points in the side crash test, and the operation of the force limiters of the front seat belts led to a significant reduction in the degree of stress on the chest of the driver and the passenger sitting next to him in a frontal collision.
All Octavia vehicles come standard with IsoFix anchorages for two rear child seats. If there are three children, then for a fee you can order IsoFix mounts for front seat. In this case, the front passenger airbag can be deactivated either independently, using the button located on the console, or by contacting an authorized service employee (using special equipment).
Outcome
Summing up the three-day Skoda test Octavia, let's say that all our attempts to find at least some differences between the models of the Kaluga and Czech assembly were unsuccessful. It can be seen that both the original components and assemblies and the efforts of Czech specialists assigned to the Kaluga assembly plant have an effect. And, of course, the skilled labor of Russian workers leaves no room for skepticism.
SPECIFICATIONS
Car model: "Skoda Octavia"
Body type: sedan
Engine: 1.6 FSI
Engine power kW/rpm:
85 / 6000
Maximum torque Nm / rpm: 155 / 4000
Gearbox: 6‑st. tiptronic automatic transmission
Curb weight: 1300 kg
At a cost of 677,000 rubles, the car was equipped with:
ABS and ASP systems
Front airbags
Side airbags
air conditioned
Heated front seats
Radio Stream
Alloy wheels 15"
Power windows for front and rear doors
Rear-view mirrors with electric and heated
on-board computer
Immobilizer
fog lights
Package for bad roads (reinforced crankcase protection, increased ground clearance, more powerful suspension elements)
After installing xenon headlights, separate climate control and air curtains on the car, its cost increased to 728,000 rubles.
Skoda Service Guarantee
In accordance with the terms of the warranty for new Skoda cars provided:
2 years warranty for new cars;
2 years warranty on original parts and original accessories.
The warranty does not cover wear and tear, damage caused by overloading the vehicle, unprofessional handling or unauthorized modifications.
Paint and body warranty
3 years paintwork warranty;
12 year guarantee against rust penetration.
However, the warranty does not cover:
damage caused by external factors and as a result of insufficient care;
body damage or paintwork, which were eliminated out of time and not according to the norms and rules of the manufacturer using original parts;
on the centers of corrosion that have arisen as a result of the installation of any other than original parts, other technologies and repair processes than those provided by the manufacturer.
Service intervals
Replacement engine oil:
every 15,000 km or after one year (whichever comes first).
Service technician:
every 30,000 km or after two years (whichever comes first).
Service inspection includes the following operations:
changing the engine oil and changing the oil filter;
reset of indications of the index of frequency of service maintenance;
replacement fuel filter(for diesel engines operated on fuels that do not comply with DIN EN 590);
thickness control of brake pads;
TO-15000 - 6455 rubles.
TO-30000 - 7820 rubles.
TO-45000 - 6455 rubles.
TO-60000 - 9283 rubles.
TO-75000 - 6455 rubles.
TO-90000 - 7820 rubles.
Many modern car owners who want to purchase new assembly Skoda Fabia, I am interested in a question that is rather complicated at first glance: Where is the Skoda Fabia actually assembled, and who is considered the true manufacturer? However, there is nothing surprising in this matter, because it is far from a rare case when the declared manufacturer is only the owner of the “name” of a car, which, in turn, is assembled in another country. What prompted such a question? Yes, everything is quite simple! The fact is that most motorists believe that the quality of this assembly depends on the country in which the car was assembled. But in fact, all this is just prejudice and rumors that insufficiently experienced motorists believe.
Skoda Fabia, whose manufacturer is located in the Czech Republic, is quite easily soiled and popular car, and I would like to note that the build quality of this car actually always exceeds all sorts of norms.
Automobile concerns, which include the Volkswagen Group, prefer to open their assembly shops and factories around the world. This greatly facilitates the payment of duties, fees and taxes on imported products.
Factory Skoda Fabia where the cars supplied to us are assembled, is located in Russia, or rather in the city of Kaluga. It is there that the cars of this Czech family are born, which are simply indescribably in great demand in our vast country. A car that is manufactured for a certain country must be assembled in the same country, this is how the Volkswagen management, which includes Skoda, decided, and I would like to note that this is a fairly correct decision, especially when it comes to our country, and about the off-road that rages on our highways and urban so-called "roads".
Of course, you can enter a phrase in a search engine, for example, “Skoda Fabia country of origin”, and you will immediately see that the manufacturer is the Czech Republic, but in fact, not everything is so simple. Yes, of course, as such, the manufacturer is the Czech Republic, but the assembly is also carried out in our country. On the assembly line, the car goes through absolutely all phases of assembly, the plant is equipped with welding and painting shops. Moving along the conveyor, the machine is completed. First, the interior is not installed on, then the transmission elements and power unit. Last but not least, Fabia will receive optics and a Skoda nameplate. Then in a special sump the car will pass all checks for build quality and only after a positive conclusion will go for free sale to an authorized dealer.
In general, at the end of our today's article, I would like to note that thanks to the manufacturer's responsible approach to customer demand, it was decided to launch the car for sale in the country where it was actually assembled. In other words, where the Skoda Fabia is produced, it goes there, and this is probably right, and hardly anyone can disagree with this.