ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Was Skoda considered a luxury car brand at one time?

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Was Skoda considered a luxury car brand at one time? Is there a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.

uk By Charles Legge Published: 01:34, 9 August 2024 | Updated: 01:34, 9 August 2024 e-mail View comments QUESTION: Was Skoda considered a luxury car brand at one time? In the early 20th century, Skoda became one of the most significant car manufacturers in Austria-Hungary, producing a range of high-quality vehicles.Skoda Auto, originally known as Laurin & Klement, was founded in 1895 in Mlada Boleslav, in today’s Czech Republic, by Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement. The company began by producing bicycles and by 1899 had expanded into motorcycles.

Their first car, the Voiturette A, was introduced in 1905, marking their entry into the automobile industry. In 1925, in a bid to solidify their position in the market, Laurin & Klement merged with Skoda Works in Pilsen, an industrial conglomerate founded by the engineer Emil Skoda. The Skoda logo with the ‘winged arrow’ was first used in 1926.

The company began, under licence, producing luxury cars for the Spanish Hispano Suiza company. In the 1930s, Skoda Works shifted the company’s focus towards mass production and more affordable vehicles including the Popular, Rapid and Favorit. Top of the luxury market was the .