Skoda chairman Dr Winfried Vahland said: ‘“GreenFuture” is a clear, measurable commitment by the company and its employees towards environmental protection; we are investing in our green future. “GreenFuture” is part of our Growth Strategy 2018 and, at the same time, an important part of the goal of the Volkswagen Group to become the leading environmentally-friendly automobile manufacturer in the world by 2018.’

The initiative takes in three areas: GreenProduct, GreenFactory and GreenRetail.

The GreenProduct element will cover both CO2/fuel efficiency and recyclability and will include the launch of the new Octavia GreenLine, which will offer combined fuel consumption of 86.0mpg and CO2 emissions of 87g/km.

The carmaker said it is also turning to alternative fuels through models such as the recently launched Citigo CNG, which will be joined by the new Octavia CNG later this year.

Skoda is also continuing its research into electric cars is currently running a test fleet of 10 Octavia Green E-Line vehicles in the Czech Republic, with the findings being analysed with environmental partners. 

Skoda will also address vehicle production under its “GreenFactory” programme, which seeks to organise production in such a way that it will be 25% more environmentally friendly by 2018. This includes reducing energy and water consumption and the amount of waste generated while emissions such as CO2 and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds generated in small amounts during the painting of car bodies) are also to be lowered by one quarter.

The third element of the sustainability strategy is “GreenRetail”, which covers the environmental protection in dealerships and repair workshops. The company said that campaigns such as the “Spring Cleaning 2012" conducted in the Czech Republic have led to the removal of 95 tons of unusable or discarded materials from the storage areas of service partners, almost 90% of which could be reprocessed.