Skoda Auto, more commonly known as Skoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Skoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000 and its total sales reached 684,226 cars in 2009.
The perception of Skoda in Western Europe has changed completely since the takeover by VW,in stark comparison to the reputation of the cars throughout the 1980's, often described as 'the laughing stock' of the automotive world.As technical development progressed and attractive new models were brought to market, Skoda's image was initially slow to improve. In the UK, a major turnabout was achieved with the ironic "It is a Skoda, honest" campaign, which was started in the early 2000s. In a 2003 advertisement on British television, a new employee on the production line is fitting Skoda badges on the car bonnets. When some attractive looking cars come along he stands back, not fitting the badge, since they look so good they cannot be Skodas.
This market campaign worked by confronting Skoda's image problem head-on—a tactic which marketing professionals regard as high risk. Before the advertising campaign, it was common to hear tour guides in Bratislava making jokes about the Skoda, saying "How do you double the value of a Skoda? Fill up the gas tank!" If the Fabia and Octavia had been anything less than excellent cars the campaign might have backfired badly. By 2005 Skoda was selling over 30,000 cars a year in the UK, a market share of over 1%. For the first time in its UK history, a waiting list developed for deliveries by Skoda. Skoda owners in the UK have consistently ranked the brand at or near the top of the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey during the 2000s.
As of 2010 Skoda has several manufacturing and assembly plants, including one in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Skoda also has an assembly plant in the city of Aurangabad, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra which was established in 2001 as Skoda India Private Ltd.