This December, ŠKODA AUTO can look back on 125 years of history. This makes the Czech company one of the longest established car manufacturers in the world still in operation. The international success story began shortly before Christmas 1895 when Václav Laurin and Václav Klement founded a workshop for the repair and manufacture of bicycles in Mladá Boleslav. Later they also produced motorbikes and automobiles, released from 1925 under the ŠKODA brand.