Competing with the West

Out of the Czech town of Mlada Boleslav last week came a set of production statistics meant to impress the West as well as local consumers. Daily output of autos from the town's Skoda plant had reached 340; by the end of this year it would rise to 400, for a total 1967 total of over 100,000 cars.

The figures are minuscule by the standards of such Western giants as General Motors, Ford, or even Volkswagen. But in Skoda's case, they are significant not only to Czechoslovakia but to all of Communist Eastern Europe. If nothing else, Skoda's snappy, rugged little family compact, the 1000 MB, proves that Communism can at least try to compete in highly competitive western auto markets. Where such products as Russia's Zil and East Germany's Trabant have failed to make even the smallest dent in the Western market, Skoda's 1000 MB has become increasingly popular on roads from Cologne to Christchurch, N.Z. Last year Skoda turned out 77,000 of the cars, up from 60,000 in 1965. Nearly half were exported to the West, bringing in more than $30 million to the Czech economy, which is starving for hard currency.

Following the Leaders. If the 1000 MB looks familiar, it is no coincidence. Before production started in 1964, Chief Designer Frantisek Sajdl made extensive studies of Western compacts. His four-door 1000 MB has a 48-h.p., four-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that sits astern of the rear axle. The car's top speed is 78 m.p.h. against 74 m.p.h. for the Volkswagen bug; it gets 38 miles to the gallon against Renault's 39. While far from fancy, the plastic interior trim is durable. Its two front bucket seats fold back for sleeping, and the car's rack-and-pinion steering makes for good road-holding quality.

All but unmarketed in North America, the 1000 MB sells at hard-currency prices ranging from $1,195 in West Germany to $1,350 in Austria and about $1,500 in England (purchase taxes account for the cost differential). It is easier for a foreigner to buy a Skoda than for a Czech, since the government places a high priority on exports. The list price for a 1000 MB in Czechoslovakia is 45,600 crowns, or $3,040, and the waiting period is more than three years. Even so, some 160,000 Czechs have already put down deposits averaging $1,300 each just to get themselves on the waiting list.

Changing the Design. Long known as a munitions and armaments maker, and recently a manufacturer of anti-aircraft guns for North Viet Nam, Skoda is also an automotive pioneer. The firm built its first car, an open-top two-seater called the Voiturette, as early as 1901. After World War II and the Communist takeover, Skoda's major model was a small sedan called the Oktavia, which gained little popularity in the West. Yet it was only after a long fight that Skoda's management was given government permission to make the radical design departure from the Oktavia that resulted in the 1000 MB.

The handy little auto could probably sell even better if the government did not insist that it must be marketed abroad by the state trading organization, Motokov. Pretty good at long-distance peddling, Motokov's Prague-based bureaucrats export an extensive line of products including bicycles, buzzsaws, machine tools and household appliances--far too many items for the sort of sales effort Skoda executives would prefer for the 1000 MB. Says one Skoda man, "Motokov has many very good people, but it isn't ideal to have them sitting far from the factory selling a car they know nothing about."

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