Škoda Auto boss Bernhard Maier has said that the company will be shifting part of the production process of its cars to Germany. The reason, he said, is that the company was running at peak capacity in the Czech Republic. Czech Television is reporting that a restructuring of the company’s production process is in the works but that the results of the planning won’t be known for another three to four months. Speculation about the move surfaced last fall, causing the prime minister at the time to ask for an explanation of the situation. He was told that Škoda would do its utmost to keep jobs in the Czech Republic, but Maier warned at the time that the company was running at full steam. “We’re looking for new production opportunities. We’ve employed another 3,000 people in the last 12 months in Kvasiny and have hired another 250 in the development department.” Škoda recently had a run-in with labor unions who refused the company’s request to make Saturdays a normal work day but agreed to a 12 percent rise in wages.
