Newsletter for employees and residents living near the Škoda Auto Vrchlabí plant 1/2026

“I am pleased with how well the neighbourly relations between our plant and the local area are working, and I look forward to strengthening them further.”

Lars Bürger, Head of the Škoda Auto Vrchlabí plant

IN BRIEF

Health Days

At the end of April, the traditional Health Days event will take place at the Vrchlabí plant for all employees, offering a wide range of preventive screenings, including checks focused on cardiovascular disease, joint pain and smoking cessation. Specialists will also highlight the benefits of the Healthy Back and Mental Wellbeing Matters programmes.

Let’s Clean Up Krkonoše

Employees of Škoda Auto in Vrchlabí and their loved ones will once again join nature conservation volunteers and head to the area around Špindlerův Mlýn on Saturday 16 May to help clear litter from the countryside. We will meet at 09:00 at building number 275.

Through the eyes of locals:
Tomáš Polonský – gear production planning

Mr Polonský is from Vrchlabí and, as a keen sportsman, has achieved impressive results. He is also guiding his two daughters in sport – his elder daughter Eliška even won a silver medal at last year’s European Youth Olympic Festival in Georgia.

Before we get to sport, could you introduce your role at work?
The transmission we produce consists, among other components, of thirteen gears and five shafts. I am responsible for planning gear production. My job is to ensure that our production section manufactures the required number of parts each week for the next stages of the manufacturing process. One week in advance, I receive the production plan for the following seven days from colleagues in logistics. My task is then to order the forgings from which we manufacture the gears, based on those requirements.

What manufacturing operations take place in your section?
We produce gears starting from forgings, which are raw parts from the forge, right through to fully finished components ready to be installed in transmissions. It is a highly complex process, with each gear passing through dozens of manufacturing operations in sequence.

You are from Vrchlabí, but you previously worked in Mladá Boleslav – how long have you been back?
This is now my third year back. I joined Škoda in Mladá Boleslav seven years ago, working on production of the Octavia, so as a local lad I was pleased to be able to return to Vrchlabí. I started here in laser welding of gears and, after half a year, I took the opportunity to move into production planning in our section.

You have a reputation as a serious sportsman – what do you do?
I do sport with my children, mainly cross-country skiing. But that is not just a matter of winter preparation – it takes year-round training: running in summer, skiing in winter. I personally started out in Vrchlabí with ice hockey, which I was heavily involved in, but once I had a family there was less time for it. I also guide my two daughters in sport, and my elder daughter Eliška is already in the Czech junior national team. Last year she brought home a silver medal in the sprint from the European Youth Olympic Festival in Georgia.

What does that involve in terms of preparation?
The whole family has to be involved. For example, after a Saturday night shift I still had to drive to races, and travelling to clubs and training sessions is just part of normal life. At this level of sport, it means my daughter trains every day apart from Monday, with competitions at weekends. It takes time and persistence, but you can see that it is worth it. The main thing is that both daughters enjoy sport, including younger Julia Ágnes, who is following in her sister’s footsteps and is involved in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

You modestly started by talking about your daughters’ achievements, but you yourself are still an active sportsman…
Last year I proved to myself that even at forty it is possible to run a marathon in under three hours, if you really put the effort in (laughs). The three-hour barrier was my goal, and I was delighted to achieve it at the Prague Marathon. It took at least half a year of preparation, and I went running every day. It is demanding in terms of both time and weather, and the terrain here is tougher too – there is always some hill in your way.

Do you still have any sporting goals or challenges ahead of you?
This year, at the Bedřichov Night Light Marathon, I managed to finish third in my category in a night-time cross-country ski race. It was exciting – just with a head torch, I was battling someone for second place in the dark, and when I reached the finish I found out it was Martin Koukal, the world champion! That gave me a real lift. And the challenge? If I had known it was him, I’d have dug even deeper and pushed harder (laughs). Next time!