Originally posted by queeq
I don't entirely agree with the East-bloc comment. Skoda is well up and running in the market. Yes, it has been taken over by Volkswagen, but it is getting back the pre-eastbloc grandeur. Good cars that these days, VERY good cars.
The only reason that Skoda now produce excellent cars is because they are built with Volkswagen design know-how and machine tools under German supervision.
Without those vital qualities Skoda would still be the laughing-stock of Europe.