What is Czech Car Brands?
There are many Czech brands currently operational and historical. Skoda and Tatra are two big names that come to mind. Besides them, however, there are also plenty of smaller producers.
Czech Republic is known throughout the world as one of the Europe’s lesser centers of industry. Besides Skoda, they have many more car manufacturers, although they aren’t as famous. Some are subsidiaries of the bigger foreign brands. In short, it’s an ample collection.
Aero was one of the car manufacturers in Czechoslovakia in the 1920-40s. They mostly made high-performance cars of the era, but there were some passenger cars. They didn’t make too many of these, nor were they too successful. The car was more prominent as a producer of aircraft. The brand doesn’t really have any emblems per se. They just used their wordmark, written as if by hand.
Avia is a Czech carmaker, established in 1919. Originally an aircraft company, later they started making cars. Until 1945, they were a Skoda subsidiary, but broke free after the war. The company nowadays makes a variety of vehicles, including heavy trucks, light trucks, SUVs and more. They also dabbled in motorsport, but not too successfully. Their logo is a blue, artistic image of a plane.
Kaipan is a Czech carmaker, established in 1991. It’s one of the smaller manufacturers, and it mostly makes high-performance vehicles. These are called roadsters, and they are often compact, agile and powerful. Only a handful of these were developed, and they were produced in small numbers. Most of these also use parts from Skoda. The company uses two yellow crescents facing up (one inside the other) as a logo.
Karosa is a producer of buses from Czech Republic. It was established first in 1896. Later in the 1990s, they went under. After that, Iveco bought them off. Nowadays, they are known as Irisbus. They basically just produce urban buses for the entirety of Czechia, as well as some other countries. Their logo is their own wordmark, made in a black italic style.
MTX is a car company, founded in Czechoslovakia in the late 60s. They are still operational, although the focus is changed. Before, they mostly just repaired the Czech cars. Now, they make a variety of high-performance modifications for various models from all over the world. It includes racing cars, buggies, sports cars and more. Their logo is just their name, written in big, blue letters with several red stripes nearby.
Luka EV is a car, designed and produced by the Czech MW Motors Company. It was designed in the early 2010s, and is now being perfected. It’s actually amongst the few significant cars designed by this company. It’s supposed to be a compact, electric-driven car with modest characteristics. The emblem is a pair of ‘M’s connected below into a horseshoe, with a letter ‘W’ squeezed between the two. It’s an MW logo, the car doesn’t have its own.
Praga is a Czech carmaker, established in 1907. In its time, they’ve made plenty of car models, motorcycle models and trucks. Nowadays, they mostly make the latter. The cars are mostly supercars and racing vehicles. Trucks and other categories are now out of production. The company’s logo is their name, written in black italic letters.
Skoda is the biggest carmaker to come from Czech Republic. Established in 1895, they started making cars almost immediately. As a result, they’ve made a lot of various models over the years. Now, it’s mostly various passenger and family cars, as well as some more high-performance variants. The emblem is an arrow with three big feathers sticking out of it. They also use the name wordmark often (written as ‘ŠKODA’).
SOR Libchavy is a Czech vehicle manufacturer, established in 1991. They mostly make buses of various kinds. Nowadays, they are one of two major manufacturers of such sort in this country (next to Irisbus). Most of these buses are simple single-deckers. The brands doesn’t use any sort of badge. The logo is the acronym ‘SOR’ written in inflated, round letters.
Tatra is the second-largest carmaker is Czech Republic. They started doing this in 1897. Over the years, the company manufactured a lot of different vehicles. However, now they are mostly known for producing trucks and some high-performance vehicles. It includes largely medium and light trucks. The brand’s logo is a red circle with the company’s name written in white on it,
This company was created in Czech Republic in 2002. Nowadays, it’s called Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic, and they just make Toyota cars. That means, in particular, Aygo X and Yaris. Before, Peugeot and Citroen cars were also made as part of a joint venture. They closed down this production in 2021. As a result, the company uses Toyota symbols now.
Java (or Jawa) is a Czech car, initially produced in the 30s. It’s supposed to be powerful, as well as expensive. Nowadays, it’s very popular as a subject of replicas. Some carmakers produce these, but originals are also sold still. It’s one of the most popular Czech cars from that era. The emblem is just the name (‘Jawa’, usually), written in abrupt, straight letters.
Hyundai opened up the production in Czech Republic in 2008. Since then, they’ve introduced a handful of Hyundai cars. These are most hatchbacks (and some crossovers) made by Czechs for the Czech market. It’s one of the many production centers of Hyundai in the world. This one in particular is one of the lesser examples. They use Hyundai symbols exclusively.
Zbrojovka was a Czech carmaker that existed between 1918 and 2009. Besides cars (of which most were made before the WW2), they also made military equipment. It’s probably the most prominent of their products. However, these trucks and cars are still considered amongst the classic examples of that age in the Czech industry. They are an important stepping stone. A letter ‘Z’ surrounded by a metallic spiral was their emblem.