PRAGUE (dpa-AFX) - The Czech VW subsidiary Skoda wants to get involved in the affordable entry-level electric car segment with a new all-electric small car. The vehicle, called Epiq, will cost around 25,000 euros and will celebrate its world premiere next year, the carmaker from Mlada Boleslav announced on Friday. The design will look completely different from the planned VW ID.2all model, Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer told journalists in Prague. The vehicle with a high-riding SUV look will be 4.1 meters long and have a trunk with a capacity of up to 490 liters. "It is spacious, but very compact on the outside," said the 56-year-old.

Zellmer is not afraid of cheaper Chinese competition for battery-powered cars. "We are ready for the competition," says the car manager. The company offers good value for money and can rely on its dealer network. This is not a new situation, as Japanese and Korean car manufacturers have already entered the European market in the past.

A few months ago, Volkswagen decided against building a new battery factory in the Czech Republic for the time being. The possible location near Plzen is now to continue to serve as a reserve airfield for the Czech army. It would have been the fourth so-called Gigafactory after Salzgitter, Valencia and St. Thomas in Canada.

Zellmer justified the decision by stating that the transformation process towards e-mobility in Europe is proceeding more slowly than had been expected a year or two ago. However, the plans are not off the table: "We will resume this discussion, but it will not be Pilsen, we will have to look for another site."

Last year, Skoda delivered 866,800 vehicles worldwide, according to its own figures. This was an increase of 18.5 percent compared to 2022 - despite the withdrawal from Russia due to the war in Ukraine. The operating result rose from 628 million euros in 2022 to more than 1.7 billion euros. At 6.7 percent, the return on sales was more than twice as high as in the previous year./hei/DP/stk