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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conglomerates |
| Founded | Plzeň,Kingdom of Bohemia,Austrian Empire (1859 (1859)) |
| Founder | Emil Škoda |
| Defunct | 1999 (1999) |
| Fate | Divided |
| Successor | |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products |
|
878,269,000 Czech koruna (2000)  | |
Number of employees | 34,231 (1991) |
| Parent | Reichswerke AG für Waffen-und Maschinenbau Hermann Göring |
TheŠkoda Works (Czech:Škodovy závody,Czech pronunciation:[ˈʃkoda]ⓘ) was one of the largest European industrialconglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineerEmil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory inPlzeň,Bohemia,Austria that had been established ten years previously, founding Škoda Works. ByWorld War I, Škoda Works had become the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary, supplying theAustro-Hungarian army withmountain guns,mortars and machine guns, including the Škoda M1909, and the ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy with heavy guns. After the war and the creation of theFirst Czechoslovak Republic, the company, previously focusing on the manufacturing of armaments, diversified and became a major manufacturer oflocomotives,aircraft,ships,machine tools,steam turbines, equipment forpower utilities, among other industrial products.[1] Škoda Works and their associated Czechoslovak architects and engineers also played a major role in the industrialization and modernization of Iran underReza Shah Pahlavi. They were responsible for designing and constructing a wide range of projects, including power plants, manufacturing facilities, defense industries, and public and civil architecture that became defining elements of thePahlavi dynasty’s program of modernization inImperial Iran.[2]
The deteriorating political situation in Europe by the latter half of theinterwar period eventually led to a renewed focus on armaments. FollowingNazi Germany's1938 occupation of Czechoslovakia, Škoda's factories started supplying the German army withPanzer 35(t) tanks andJagdpanzer 38 tank destroyers, both based on earlier designs for theCzechoslovak Army. AfterWorld War II, Škoda Works was nationalized and split into several companies by the new communist government. Important products during the Communist era includednuclear reactors andtrolley buses.
By the early 1990s, with theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia no longer in power, the companies that were part of the Škoda group wereprivatized and eventually sold off to a number of international buyers such as GermanconglomerateVolkswagen and South KoreanDoosan.Škoda Works is the predecessor of several modern-day companies, most notably car makerŠkoda Auto, power station equipment manufacturerDoosan Škoda Power, as well as tram and train manufacturerŠkoda Transportation.
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In 1859, Count Ernst von Waldstein-Wartenberg of the aristocraticWaldstein andWartenberg families set up a branch of his foundry and engineering works inPlzeň. The output of the plant, employing over 100 workers, included machinery and equipment for sugar mills, breweries, mines, steam engines, boilers, iron bridge structures, and railway facilities. In 1869, the plant was bought by engineer and entrepreneurEmil Škoda. Škoda soon expanded the firm, and in the 1880s, he founded what was then a very modern steelworks capable of delivering castings weighing dozens of tons. Steel castings and later forgings for larger passenger liners and warships went on to rank alongside the sugar mills as the top export branches of the factory.
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In 1899, the ever-expanding business was transformed into ajoint-stock company, and beforeWorld War I, Škoda Works had become the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. It was a navy and army contractor, mainly supplying heavy guns and ammunition.
Exports included castings, such as part of the piping for theNiagara Falls power plant and for theSuez Canal sluices as well as machinery for sugar mills inTurkey, breweries throughout Europe, and guns for theFar East andSouth America.
World War I brought a drop in the output of peacetime products. Huge sums were invested into expanding production capacities. By then, Škoda Works held majorities in a number of companies in theCzech lands and abroad that were not involved in arms manufacture. In 1917, the company had 35,000 employees in Plzeň alone.
Following the emergence of theCzechoslovak Republic in 1918, the complex economic conditions ofpostwar Europe caused the company to be transformed from what was exclusively an arms manufacturer into a multi-sector concern. In addition to traditional branches, the production programme embraced a number of new concepts, such as steam (and later electric) locomotives, freight and passenger vehicles, aircraft, ships, machine tools, steam turbines, power-engineering equipment, etc.
In 1923, the company's world-famous registeredtrademark, the winged arrow in a circle, was entered in the Companies Register. The deteriorating political situation in Europe saw arms production rise again in the mid-1930s.
Škoda manufactured the triple-barreled gun turrets for theTegetthoff-class battleships of theAustro-Hungarian navy. Prior toWorld War II, Škoda producedLT-35tanks, which are better known under their German designation,Panzer 35(t). They were originally produced for theCzechoslovak Army and were used extensively by theWehrmacht in thePolish campaign, theFall of France and theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union. In July 1944, Škoda started production of theJagdpanzer 38(t).
In 1924, Škoda Works acquired theLaurin & Klement car manufacturer, later known asŠkoda Auto. The companies were separated after 1945, when all of theCzechoslovak economy wasnationalised.
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In 1945, the year that nationalisation efforts began inCzechoslovakia, Škoda was nationalised, and many sections were split from the company. The car works in Mladá Boleslav becameAutomobilové závody, národní podnik, AZNP, today'sŠkoda Auto, and the aircraft plant in Prague and truck plant became part of a conglomerate of nine truck producers headquartered in Liberec asLIAZ (Libereckéautomobilovézávody), although the trucks were still marketed as Škodas.[3] Some factories inSlovakia were also split off, and other plants produced food-industry equipment.
The company was renamedZávody Vladimíra Iljiče Lenina (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Works) in 1953, but since the new name caused losses of sales abroad, the name was changed back to Škoda in 1965.[4]
The factory concentrated on markets in theSoviet Union and theEastern Bloc. The company produced a wide range of heavy machinery such asnuclear reactors andlocomotives. A lack of updates to its product designs and infrastructure considerably weakened the company's competitive position and its brand.
After 1962, Škoda became well known in the Soviet Union and other countries as atrolley bus manufacturer after it began to export Škoda 9 Tr, one of its most successful models. The successor, Škoda 14 Tr, manufactured between 1982 and 1997, is still widely used, for example, in post-Soviet states.
In 1978, the company was turned into the government-owned group of companies ("koncern") Škoda. It was based in Plzeň and consisted of the companies: První brněnská strojírna (First Machine Works of Brno),ČKD Blansko,ČKD Dukla Praha-Karlín inPrague, Slovenské energetické strojárne S. M. Kirova (Slovak S. M. Kirov Energy Machine Works) inTlmače, and Výzkumný ústav energetických zařízení (Energy Facilities Research Institute) inBrno.
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After the Communist Partylost power in late 1989, the company was privatized into the hands of management. Mismanagement andasset stripping led to a collapse. The company was restructured and some factories closed. Except for some smaller companies named Škoda andŠkoda Auto, after the chaotic 1990s period, the Czech Škoda companies were again regrouped within theholding companyŠkoda Holding a.s. in 2000. In 2010, the holding company changed its name toŠkoda Investment, a.s..
Following the change in the political climate in 1989, Škoda started along a path ofprivatisation and used the time to come up with an optimal production programme, make new business contacts and look for markets other than those that had so far been its priority markets, communist countries.
In 1991, a foreign partner for the passenger car worksŠkoda Auto a.s. was sought by the Czech government.Volkswagen was chosen, and the German firm initially took a 30% stake, rising to 100% ownership by 1999. Škoda Auto is now a completely-independent entity from other companies bearing the Škoda name.
In 1992, the company was privatised by the so-called Czech method. It began expanding its production activities, acquiring theTatra andLIAZ vehicle works and constructing a plant to produce aluminum soft drink cans. The expansion put the company's financial stability in jeopardy. In 1999, it concluded an agreement with creditor banks, and the restructuring of the entire capital structure of the Škoda group was undertaken. The result was the legal and financial stability at the company. Currently, a sectoral restructuring of production companies in the group is under way. In April 2000, Škoda Holding a.s. took over the helm, controlling nineteen primary subsidiaries and most product lines.
In 2003, the Czech government sold its 49% stake to theAppian Group for 350 millionCZK;[5] (in 2020, equivalent to 14.78 millionUSD) later that year the Appian Group acquired the rest of its stake in aliquidation of the previous owner.[6] The Appian Group is aholding companyincorporated in theNetherlands and controlled through a screen ofshell companies. The real owner or owners are unknown, despite investigations by theCzech police.[7][8] In September 2010, a group of four current or former Škoda or Appian managers announced that it would acquire Škoda from Appian for an undisclosed price.[9][10] The Czech media speculated that the acquisition was only a formality, as the managers probably owned the parent company Appian.[10][11]
Škoda was then focused solely on the transport sector. Other divisions have been sold, a large part of them to the Russian companyOMZ (the price was not published, estimated at 1 billion CZK).[12] Some smaller transport companies were acquired, such as part of theHungarian companyGanz, VÚKV (owner of theVelim railway test circuit) and some transport-related assets of the formerČKD, now called Škoda Vagonka. In 2009, Škoda holding announced that theSouth Korean conglomerateDoosan would acquire itspower section for 11,5 billion CZK (US$656 million).[12][13] Finally, in March 2011, Škoda sold itsŠkoda Transportation subsidiary toCyprus-based company Škoda Industry (Europe) Ltd,[14] later renamed CEIL (Central Europe Industries) Ltd.
As of 2012, Škoda Investment still owns the Škoda brand and somereal estate but does not perform any industrial activity. Between 2007 and 2012, the company paiddividends to Appian, a sum of 32 billion CZK (1.18 billioneuro or US$1.6 billion).[15]
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