Skoda Shows Growth Of 11.6 % Globally From January To June 2018

Skoda has delivered 652,700 vehicles globally in the first six months of 2018. The company showed a strong growth of 11.6 per cent compared to the same period last year (January to June 2017: 585,000 vehicles). The company delivered 116,500 units in June alone - an increase of 10.8 per cent compared to the same month last year. The SUVs Kodiaq and Karoq continue to be growth drivers.

"The results of the first half of this year impressively demonstrate the effectiveness of our model strategy. Our modern and wide range of models has been very well received by customers worldwide," says Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier. "In the second half of 2018, we are expecting bottlenecks due to the introduction of the new WLTP test procedure; deliveries of some vehicles will therefore be delayed."

Along with the new WLTP test procedure, a new emission standard will be introduced that will bring about a challenging situation for all automakers in 2018. In Western Europe, Skoda grew by 7.7 per cent in June with 49,400 deliveries, while China also made a major contribution to the company's sales developments. In June, the number of deliveries in the region increased to 27,500 vehicles, a growth of more than 26 per cent.

India might not have contributed much in terms of sales but we expect it to do so from 2020. The company recently announced its plan to invest 1 billion Euros in the country and make India-specific models with high level of local content. The company has already said that a midsize SUV will be first launched in India in 2020 on the MQB- A0 platform and will be priced extremely competitively. Given that Skoda and Volkswagen are eyeing 5 per cent market share in the country, we're sure that the numbers will be even greater a couple of years from now.