Skoda, Volkswagen’s Czech-Republic brand only sells in modest numbers locally but is actually one of the world’s fastest growing automotive brands with an array of slick products in showrooms.
And here’s proof: last year Skoda sales worldwide amounted to 879,200 vehicles. That’s 15.3 per cent up on 2010, more than three times the global new car growth figure of 5.1 per cent and not far behind the total Australian new car market (1,008,437).
Skoda made great progress with increasing sales in emerging markets – China, India and Russia – increased market share in all regions and finished 2011 with its best-ever global market share of 1.4 per cent.
To keep pace with growth, back home in the Czech-Republic, Skoda is currently expanding its main plant in Mlada Boleslav to produce a third model line and from the end of this year the Vrchlabi plant will commence production of direct-shift gearboxes (DSGs) for supply to Group brands Volkswagen, seat and Audi.
