Skoda begins aggressive expansion plans

Everyone’s been scrambling over each other for headlines leading up to the Frankfurt motor show this September 13, but Czech carmaker Skoda kept strangely mum about its plans. Probably because Skoda was still busy putting the finishing touches on this sleek concept called Mission L, said to now be close to the final production-ready design which should reach showrooms as early as 2012. The Mission L is Skoda’s first line of offence when it comes to the company’s goal of selling 1.5 million vehicles annually by 2018. It’s a tough mission, which begs the question why they called the car Mission L, suffixed with the universal symbol for ‘loser’. On a serious note, the compact liftback design will be launched in Europe, Russia and China, while the Indian market will get its own saloon version which gives us hope for seeing the car on our shores too. The Mission L is the first model in Skoda’s presentation plans of one new vehicle every six months over the next two or three years. Starting in late 2012, Skoda will also begin production of an automatic twin-clutch gearbox to go with its modern styling and aggressive expansion plans.