However at the start of the new Millenium Skoda became 100% owned by the Volkswagen group, who in turn have one of the cleanest and most recognisable brands and logos in the world, and one of the first things they did was launch the new logo (far left), which gave the brand a modern look.  Along with the new logo came a new design team and nwe brand strategy that managed to restore some pride in the Skoda brand.  The cars became synominous with style and reliability and a more modern and dynamic car company was portrayed thanks to a lot of hard work and a fantastic marketing strategy, most of all though the brand restored a lot of street cred.  They even created one of the most memorable adverts of the last 10 years when they launched the Skoda Fabie, with the "Confectionary Car" advert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhfEGKc7PLQ&NR=1)  & even showed this year that they can have a laugh at their own brand when they launched the new 'meaner' Skoda Fabia RS and created a more 'meaner' car and an advert that took the cake building to a new extreme level, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aom2wOqZo-I).

However the report I read today, implied that from April 2011 the new logo, (above right) will be the new image for the Skoda brand as they continue to move forward, the new logo which harps back to Skodas original logo which was used from 1926-1990 and was synonymous with poor quality products and has been given a modernish makeover, don't get me wrong I'm a big advocate of evolution over revolution when it comes to logo design but this is one where I feel evolution has turned into devolution.  A source was quoted as saying "The blue perimeter is to convey the strong VW connection. The arrow is more aerodynamic and slippery indicating the modern, poised and ready-for-anything attitude" Currently Skoda or VW have made no official announcement regarding the new logo but I really do hope that this logo does not make it onto the branding after the amount of amazing work that has gone in to rebuilding the brand over the last decade.  Obviously a logo does not make a brand but it certainly is the first thing people and potential customers think of when it comes to brand association, and this new logo could potentially devalue the Skoda brand, and I wil reserve my full judgement until and if the new logo is launched and seeing its implementation but currently I would have to say its a definite step backwards for Skoda.