A True Czech from Spain

The compact Škoda Epiq electric car will be the brand’s first model to be manufactured in Spain. Its place of origin will be the plant in Pamplona. During extensive preparations, Škoda Auto’s experts ensured that the vehicle remains a true car of the Czech brand in every respect.

8. 6. 2026 eMobility

The new Škoda Epiq electric car is an example of intensive Group-wide cooperation across Europe. The car was designed by teams in the Czech Republic and will be manufactured in Spain at a plant belonging to a German brand.

Production of the Epiq electric vehicle is starting at the Volkswagen Navarra plant in Pamplona, Spain. Here, the Epiq will be assembled alongside its Group sibling based on the MEB+ platform. This synergy has contributed to making the Epiq affordable and enabling electric mobility to become accessible to a wider audience.

Standardization facilitates intensive preparations

Preparing production for every new model is always an intensive and demanding long-term process involving a large number of people. The decision to manufacture the compact Epiq electric ca at the VW Navarra plant was made in 2023. Since then, Škoda experts have been working to ensure that everything runs just as smoothly as it would at one of the company’s own production facilities.

A major advantage is that the fundamental production principles are standardised throughout the entire Volkswagen Group. “In principle, it therefore makes no difference whether a model is launched at a domestic or a foreign plant. The Group has long been using unified procedures and methodologies that ensure high quality, efficiency and compatibility between individual production locations,” explains Stanislav Melichar from Škoda Auto’s Production Planning department.

A specific feature of the Epiq project is that it was developed within the framework of the new one.PRODUCTION strategy, which is based on a unified approach across brands and plants with the aim of sharing processes, technologies and know-how, increasing efficiency and utilising synergies within the global production network. “In practice, this means closer interconnection between teams, standardisation of manufacturing procedures and broader use of digital tools across the Group’s production network,” Stanislav Melichar explains.

Rigorous Quality Control

In Pamplona, the new electric vehicles will be produced on the same production line alongside models with internal combustion engines, an area in which Škoda Auto has extensive experience from its Mladá Boleslav plant. There, the Enyaq and Elroq electric vehicles are produced on the same line as the brand’s traditional bestseller, the Octavia.

This experience also helped to optimise production quality more effectively on site. On behalf of Škoda Auto, supervision was carried out by Petr Košek, who has been working in Pamplona since September 2024 as a communication and decision-making link between the Czech car manufacturer and the Spanish plant. “Thanks to this, it has been possible to accelerate and streamline the flow of information as well as the subsequent decision-making process, particularly during the individual phases of project preparation and production ramp-up,” says Petr Košek.

One of his main tasks was primarily to ensure compliance with the function-oriented quality strategy, which places emphasis on the requirements of Škoda customers. In other words, to ensure that the Epiq not only looks like a Škoda car but also performs like one in real-world use.

“On behalf of Škoda Auto, we were primarily involved in defining quality requirements in terms of design, engineering and customer expectations. We established quality standards and benchmarks, supervised compliance during production implementation and approved processes and components, including key elements such as the traction battery,” explains Petr Košek.

This means that the Epiq does not use any specific components that the car manufacturer would not know in complete detail. In addition to the production process itself, the Spanish plant is also responsible for cooperation with suppliers and, naturally, for the operational management of current events on the production line.

This is why the Epiq can have Spain listed as its place of origin in its “birth certificate” and still remain a genuine Škoda vehicle. “From a quality perspective, it is essential that, regardless of the cooperation model, the final product must always be fully in line with Škoda brand standards,” Petr Košek adds.

Škoda and production abroad

Although Škoda is a Czech car manufacturer, thanks to its successful international expansion, its vehicles and components are also produced outside its own plants in Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí. The Epiq is therefore not the first model of the brand to be manufactured outside its country of origin. Škoda also has production facilities in Spain, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and India, mostly through Group partnerships, as well as in Vietnam and Ukraine in cooperation with local partners.