BUILT ON HISTORY
We head to the Kvasiny factory in the Czech Republic to see how the Kodiaq is assembled – and lend a hand
are different sizes and thicknesses on the gauge, it’s only the smallest slots that will suffice for the new Skoda Kodiaq. All appears straight and true on our car, as I tick it off and sign it on to the next station.
From here, there’s actually very little left to do. It takes between four and five hours to assemble a new Skoda Kodiaq, after which each car is subjected to a harsh water test and geometry check. Only then is the car driven outside on a predetermined route around a specifically designed test track for final scrutineering.
While we didn’t see the final build sheet, we’re assured we did a fine job. Just as we hang up our overalls, a loud bell rings around the warehouse. It’s the end of a shift – but as quickly as one employee leaves, another arrives. And so it starts, all over again…
SKODA is the fourth oldest car company in the world. Founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement, it has been building cars in the Czech Republic for over 100 years. Its home is in Mlada Boleslav, around 65km northeast of Prague, although it has also been assembling in Kvasiny, another 120km to the east, since the thirties.
It’s here where the new Kodiaq and forthcoming Karoq will be built, alongside the current Superb and Superb Estate. Since World War II, Kvasiny has had a hand in everything from the 1958 Felicia to the 110 R Coupé of the seventies. Only recently did the plant’s two millionth car leave the factory: a brand new Kodiaq SUV.
And things are ramping up; demand is increasing and the factory is expanding. Kvasiny hired an extra 2,600 workers towards the end of last year, with the total number of employees now around the 7,000 mark. The factory operates 24 hours a day, six days a week and the result is an assembly line good for around 1,000 vehicles per day.
To understand the process, precision and attention to detail that goes in to building a new Skoda at Kvasiny, we joined factory manager Jirí Školník for a tour of the site. Along the way we offered a hand, by helping build our own Kodiaq – before seeing it roll off the line just a few hours later.
As Skoda’s first seven-seat SUV, the Kodiaq requires an altogether different approach than previously seen on the outgoing Yeti or existing Superb. While many of the processes are similar, the parts used are totally different.
“We are expanding Kvasiny’s production capabilities to cope with the demand for our products,” Školník told us. “For Kodiaq we have updated the software of several robots and added a new manipulator to make fitting the third row of seats more efficient.” The controlled chaos of Kvasiny is fascinating. The step change in production means there are people on almost every one of the 106 different stations, aiding the computers by adding an attention to detail otherwise unachievable through motorised machinery. There’s a sense of camaraderie and teamwork unseen in other factories, too; Kvasiny is the local area’s biggest employer by a considerable margin.
Our first job sees us don a set of Skoda overalls, including a pair of toughened trousers and a branded T-shirt. From here we hop straight on to the line – arriving in style via a bright green Skoda scooter – to help install a leather-wrapped steering wheel into the SUV. It’s a fairly straightforward job, but one that needs double-checking, just to ensure we’ve clicked it in at the right angle.
At points, the production process feels a little out of sync, but as Skoda has been doing it for so successfully for so many years, who are we to argue? The doors, for example, are installed very early in the build process, only to be removed before the seats are bolted down. It’s Skoda’s way of protecting vital panels from damage, while also streamlining the number of trailers and racks needed to transport bulky parts across the site.
Next, we’re required to transfer the seats into the stripped-out cabin using a hydraulic lift. The crane makes remarkably light work of what’s an otherwise laborious task, allowing us to accurately place the driver’s chair on its gloss black runners. A couple of nuts ensure it’s all locked down, and seconds later the doors are back on their hinges.
Not long after we find ourselves bending down at the front of our near completed Kodiaq, with a bizarre starshaped plastic tool in our hand. Workers use this piece of polypropylene to measure panel gaps, and while there
Kvasiny hired an extra 2,600 workers towards the end of 2016, with the total now around 7,000