How Skoda became Europe's second biggest car brand

It says it all about the winner of our Outstanding Leader award that in between being interviewed and having his portrait taken for this feature, he jumps up from his seat to help move furniture out of the way, set up light stands and choose backdrops. Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer is only too happy to lend a hand - and has an especially chipper outlook when we meet him at the Czech brand's museum in Mladá Boleslav, on the eve of the announcement that it sold a colossal 223,500 cars in Europe in the first quarter of 2026. That makes it not just the region's second-biggest brand, after Volkswagen, but also one of its fastest-growing, having climbed eight places in just four years. Once he has checked that our photographer is happy with the set-up of the room and told us that he generously rearranged his afternoon to make more time for our interview, Zellmer takes a second to humbly reflect on these fantastic achievements. "We have 17% sales growth in a market that does not grow. Our turnover is up by 9% but our profit is up by 21%," he beams. "We're firing on all cylinders. When I say it's easier to be relaxed if you're successful, you're successful if you have a resilient business model in these super-challenging times and a great team to push the company forward." News of Skoda's rise up the European sales charts was accompanied by a near-doubling in its EV sales and a healthy 17% uptick in sales in the fiercely competitive Indian market - hugely commendable achievements each that can be at least partly attributed to Zellmer's leadership style and the corporate culture he promotes. He gives the distinct impression of a man at once entirely comfortable in such an influential role yet equally humble in his steadfast unwillingness to take it for granted. He may head up one of the world's biggest-selling car makers, with more than 40,000 people in his employ across more than 100 countries worldwide, but he doesn't revel in unchecked authority or indulge in the sort of unyielding dogmatism you might expect of someone in such a lofty position. Far from it. Fundamental to his style of management is his willingness to listen, learn and be educated, a mindset that fosters a much more collaborative (and consequently more productive) environment in board meetings and essentially means things get done quicker and to a higher standard. "One of my biggest drivers is curiosity," he explains. "It really keeps me going. Curiosity is almost like a battery that keeps delivering energy to learn more, to know more, to ask more. If you have to force yourself to learn something, it's hard, but if you're interested and want to know and ask questions, it's easier." German-born Zellmer's passion for discovery and experimentation was a big factor in him taking the Skoda role in the first place. He looks back on his long stint running Porsche in the US as "probably the best job you can have" but says that after 23 years with the sports car specialist the novelty was starting to wear off ("I think I saw seven generations of 911 in my time") and making the switch to a mass-market brand was the perfect opportunity to try something new. That opportunity came in 2020, when he was invited back to Germany to oversee sales and marketing for Volkswagen by then Volkswagen Group boss Herbert Diess - a role that came with a dramatically different remit and its own towering stack of challenges, particularly given the automotive industry was locked in a fierce battle for survival as the Covid pandemic raged globally. Not that Zellmer was particularly daunted by the prospect, his easy-going outlook instead manifesting in a commitment to give it a good go even if, in his characteristic humility, he wasn't entirely sure that he had the right set of skills. "Herbert asked me: Klaus, can you even do volume?" he remembers. "I said: 'I don't know. Seriously, I can't give you an answer. I will find out if I have the ingredients to be able to do that, and I'm more than happy to give everything I have.' And I did." Didn't he just? In Zellmer's only full year in the position, Volkswagen navigated one of the most turbulent periods in automotive history to limit sales losses to a relatively bearable 8% and finish 2021 as Europe's best-selling car brand, shifting almost as many units as runners-up Toyota and Peugeot combined. Just as importantly, Volkswagen's EV sales roughly doubled at a time when other mainstream brands could only dream of such growth, and it stayed on course to deliver a targeted healthy uptick in margins. Even if making the switch from a premium brand to one of the world's biggest sellers was initially "like drinking from the fire hose" in terms of how much he had to learn, Zellmer's input had a massive positive impact on Volkswagen's fortunes. Small wonder that a chance to jump up another rung on the ladder soon presented itself. He remembers: "When they asked me [to take over Skoda], normally you have to pretend a little bit and say 'I'll sleep on it', but I immediately said: 'Yes, I'll do it. That sounds super-interesting.'" You can't help being reminded of the old cliché about dogs looking like their owners when you speak to Zellmer. He may be relatively new to the Skoda fray, having spent the bulk of his career in the premium segment, but in his accessibility, sense of humour, logical approach and all-round everyman appeal, he could not better embody the principles of the brand he leads. If Skoda made a man, he would be a lot like this. These are attributes that translate into a pragmatic and collaborative style of management. Zellmer explains that his approach to team leadership is essentially to treat his colleagues as he would like to be treated and to open the floor for everyone to contribute ideas and suggestions. He never shies away from voicing his own opinion in a meeting but encourages everyone else to adopt the same mindset, in order to ensure a variety of voices and opinions go into every important decision. This ethos is emblematic of a dramatic shift in corporate culture that has redefined the automotive industry in recent years, the authoritarian ways of old being banished in favour of a new generation of amenable and co-operative leaders who promote more of a team culture - one that lays the framework for growth at both an employee level and for the company as a whole. "Twenty years ago, leading was showing people what to do, directing them - and just because it said something on your business card, people needed to listen and do what you wanted," says Zellmer. "This is not the case any more. You can't tell people you know exactly what they have to do, because the world is too complex. You have to enable people to do the right thing according to your values, your strategy, your navigation system and your operational excellence standards. Of course, you have to have a set of rules, but you need to let people do that of their own accord." Zellmer acknowledges that he won't always be the smartest person in the room, which means that a big part of his role as a manager is to listen, digest and evaluate what he's being told when being presented with a potential solution or advancement in a given field - always with a totally open mind. "What I hate is if people reject proposals based on the fact that 'we've never done it like that' or because it was 'not invented here'," he explains. "I think this is something that you have to signal to people: you can come with any proposal and you will never be denied because it wasn't invented here, or it contradicts something that is probably the better decision." He naturally shies away from accepting that Skoda's gleaming results can be credited to his qualities as an 'outstanding leader', preferring instead to attribute them to the tireless efforts of his colleagues: "I'm not delivering them myself, I'm delivering them with a team that I need to inspire and have heading in the right direction with the right speed and the right spirit." But Zellmer does concede that there are certain qualities that make an effective CEO: "To walk the talk, to have a vision, to be a leader that creates followers, to be somebody who is approachable and credible - and, foremost, who delivers on promises." He may not want to admit it, but Zellmer is outlining the very traits that make himself an outstanding leader - traits that line both him and Skoda up for ever greater success in the coming years. But for all his efforts to shape the path ahead, Zellmer is much more flexible about his own future in the industry. When asked what the next stage of his colourful career could be, he laughs and says: "I've been in this automotive industry for 30 years, and I could have never answered that job in any of my positions so far." He says people have told him he has been "lucky getting to where you are", and he agrees - but adds that you can only ever be truly lucky if "preparation meets opportunity". "You need to be prepared for whatever comes and the opportunity that will present itself," he says, "but if you're not prepared, the opportunity will be nothing for you." So while Zellmer may not know exactly what the future holds, you can be sure he will be ready for every eventuality and geared up to tackle the situation - just like the best Skoda cars are, really

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How Skoda became Europe's second biggest car brand

Skoda’s CEO shares his secrets to rapid growth, record sales and EV prosperity

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How Skoda became Europe's second biggest car brand

Skoda’s CEO shares his secrets to rapid growth, record sales and EV prosperity

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