ABSTRACT

A quite remarkable story of decline, reinvention and renewal is that of Skoda Cars of Czechoslovakia. From a position of international prestige (which many have forgotten about), this brand declined to become the butt of numerous derogatory jokes (especially in the British marketplace), but has rebuilt its brand value and achieved outstanding success across Europe, as the leading Central European car producer by the late 1990s, including huge successes in that same British marketplace that produced the derogatory jokes about its cars.