Skoda builds new VW motor

Nov 23 2009 Maurice Glover

Skoda builds new VW motor

SKODA has won the contract to build the latest member of Volkswagen's award-winning family of high-economy petrol engines.

The contract is another feather in the cap for the German group's Czech division, which already produces a wide range of the petrol and diesel motors that are used in Audi, Volkswagen and SEAT vehicles as well as its own brand.

It comes as Skoda celebrates its 110th year of engine manufacture at Mlada Boleslav, near Prague and the 1.4-litre TSI power unit is a far cry from the flame-ignition motorcycle motor that was built by company founders Laurin and Klement back in 1899.

Featuring both direct fuel injection and turbocharging technology, the engine boasts the low exhaust emissions and fuel consumption characteristics of a small-capacity engine with the power and driving pleasure associated with a higher-capacity unit.

'This brand new TSI engine provides a unique opportunity of combining environmental friendliness with a well-balanced driving performance. With substantially lower CO2 figures, it makes a significant contribution to reducing average emission volumes in our cars,' says Skoda Auto chairman Reinhard Jung.

Mlada Boleslav will build the new TSI motor alongside two versions of the 1.2 HTP three-cylinder engine as well as assembling 1.4 MPI, 1.4 TDI PD and 2.0 TDI CR diesel engines. Six hundred employees at the factory produce 2,800 engines each day.