Through the name, we wish to celebrate three exceptional stories that, in fact, inspired the name itself.
The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, recently saw the world premiere of ŠKODA’s bold new compact car model – SCALA. The name is derived from the Latin word for ‘stairs’ or ‘ladder’ and signifies the design, performance, and thought shift, or ‘next step,’ in ŠKODA’s compact car segment.
Through the name, we also wish to celebrate three exceptional stories that, in fact, inspired the name itself. All these protagonists have one thing in common – despite all the challenges life threw at them, they weren’t afraid to push their luck and take the next step. Courage moved them forward.
Find out how one 16-year-old boy followed his passion, became a national rally champion without a driver’s licence, and sparked a successful career for himself. Learn how one fierce little girl’s dream to get on an ice hockey team took her to another country at 11 years of age, where she became the third most skilled player in an otherwise all-boys team. Read all about how one athlete decided to try something new, took up cycling at 30, and just four years later, is now trying to fulfil her dream of reaching the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Scroll down to meet Kalle Rovanperä, Nóra Egri, and Isabelle Beckers, just three of the heroes out there who inspired us, the SCALA, and shall go on to inspire many more.
In the beginning, needless to say, she had to overcome a lot of pitfalls faced by professionals: “When you’re road cycling, you have to keep up the pace with the others, otherwise you’ll tail off and that’s the end of the race for you. You also have to learn to eat and drink properly because otherwise you’ll find yourself in so much trouble there’s no way forward,” explains Isabelle.
“People tend to think that all Finns are cross-country skiers and anglers. Not me, I’m a driver,” smiles Kalle. He started driving when he was six. He took charge of his first rally car at eight. And when he was just 16 he became the youngest ever national rally champion in Latvia.
“I really love ice-hockey. So much. And spaghetti, too!” Nóra laughs. Then she glances at her mum and quickly adds: “And my family as well.” It is her mother she can thank for being able to pursue her dream, even after moving from Budapest to Belfast, the heart of Northern Ireland.