2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36
The VW subsidiary Skoda continues to grow. In the coming year, the Czech carmaker will achieve new record sales, as CEO Detlef Wittig said.
By Frank Mertens
The Czech car maker Skoda continues to rush from record to record. "In the first ten months of this year we were able to sell 460,000 vehicles," said Skoda boss Detlef Wittig at the presentation of the refreshed Superb in Schloss Vollrads in Oestrich-Winkel. Against the background of these sales figures, Wittig expects well over 500,000 Skodas to be sold in the current financial year. "It shouldn't be less than 540,000 copies," said Wittig.
New record
The VW subsidiary was able to deliver 52,064 vehicles to customers in September alone, more than ever before in the company's history. Among the vehicles on offer, the Octavia is the most successful vehicle in the model range with 202,617 units. With this model alone, an increase of over 18 percent compared to the same period last year was achieved.
Skoda has so far sold 100,000 vehicles from the now refreshed flagship of the model series, the Superb. "We are extremely satisfied with that," said Wittig, who at the weekend together with VW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder laid the foundation stone for a new plant in Kaluga, Russia. «The Superb has opened up a new market segment for us. By refreshing the Superb, we want to continue the success of this car,”said the Skoda boss.
New grille for Superb
The new, old Superb was given a more distinctive radiator grille, the new C-shaped rear lights and indicators integrated into the exterior mirrors for the 2007 model year. The sedan also presented itself as more valuable in the interior, for which there are new seat covers and more elegant applications.
The Czechs' business in Germany is just as gratifying as the global development of the brand. For the current year, managing director Alfred E. Rieck expects a market share of 3.4 to 3.5 percent. «After ten successful years, we have an eleventh. We are currently assuming 114,000 to 116,000 vehicles that we will sell,”said Rieck.
Adjust to market
With a view to the Central and Eastern European market, on which Skoda sold almost 153,000 vehicles in the first nine months of this year (an increase of 12.5 percent), Wittig is banking on further expansion. "There is no question that there is still great potential for us here." With a view to the needs of customers in markets such as Russia, China or India, for example, the Skoda boss said that other strategies should be used with the models on offer.
“In certain markets, we don't necessarily have to offer the cars with ESP or a particularly complex steering system. The glass thicknesses of the panes, for example, don't play as much of a role here as they do for us,”says Wittig. Wittig did not want to say whether Skoda would also offer its flagship Superb - which would make perfect sense - as a station wagon. "Now let's focus on the introduction of the refreshed Superb model."
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