page_title: Škoda Auto
section_title: 1950s
hierarchical_section_title: Škoda Auto / Models / Historic models / 1950s
caption_attribution_description: Škoda 450, Charlotte Sheffield, Miss USA 1957 on promotional photo for exporter Motokov, 1957
context_page_description: ŠKODA AUTO, commonly called Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.
  In 1925 Laurin & Klement was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Škoda Works, which itself became state owned in 1948. After 1991 it was gradually privatized to the German Volkswagen Group, in 1994 became its subsidiary and in 2000 a wholly owned subsidiary.
  Škoda automobiles are sold in over 100 countries and in 2018, total global sales reached 1.25 million units, an increase of 4.4% from the previous year. The operating profit was €1.6 billion in 2017, an increase of 34.6% over the previous year. As of 2017, Škoda's profit margin was the second highest of all VW Group brands after Porsche.
context_section_description: Škoda 1200 (1952–55)
  Škoda 440/445/450 (1955–59)
  Škoda 1201 (1955–62)
  Škoda Felicia (1959–64)
  Škoda Octavia (1959–64)
caption: Škoda 450 (1957)
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "b'\\x8akoda 450, Charlotte, ... ]", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:12 16:04:45", "Image Artist": "b'Vil\\xe9m Heckel'", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "CC-BY-SA-3.0", "Image ExifOffset": "330", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "488", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4918", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF SubSecTime": "0", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "550", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "551"}