Skoda set to double sales volume in China this year
Skoda, the Czech subsidiary of Germany's Volkswagen Group, expects to double sales in China this year, encouraged by phenomenal growth during the first 10 months.
In an interview with China Daily, Peter Miling, the newly-appointed Skoda brand chief at its Chinese-German joint venture, the Shanghai Volkswagen Automobile Co, said: "We have already grown by more than 91 percent (in the first 10 months). I am totally convinced that we will double our sales volume this year compared to that of 2008."
Last year, Skoda sold 59,000 cars in China. From January to October this year, Skoda's China sales surged by 91.5 percent year-on-year to 95,700 units.
The pace is more than double the growth of the overall passenger vehicle market in the country. In the same period, passenger vehicle sales in China rose by 40 percent to 6.57 million units, according to market data.
Skoda now has three main models in China - the compact Octavia Mingrui, the subcompact Fabia Jingrui and the mid-sized Superb Haorui - all of which are produced by Shanghai Volkswagen.
Miling, who only joined Shanghai Volkswagen in September this year is confident about future prospects, saying: "Over the next year, I am quite sure that the Skoda brand can grow faster than the total (passenger vehicle) market. We are increasing our capacity to service this growth."
The passenger vehicle market in China is widely predicted to grow by 15-20 percent next year. With this growth momentum, Miling said, China is expected to be Skoda's largest market in the world next year, surpassing even that of Germany.
Accumulated Skoda sales in China exceeded 200,000 units by Nov 23 this year, following the launch of the Octavia Mingrui by Shanghai Volkswagen in the middle of 2007. The figure includes more than 160,000 units of the Octavia Mingrui.
Analysts said this is an astonishing achievement for such a relatively small and young brand, which entered the Chinese market only comparatively recently.
Miling said: "The main challenge for Skoda in China is to increase the awareness of our brand. People always want to buy the brands they are familiar with. When a new brand enters a country, it takes considerable efforts to build public awareness of it."
Miling predicted Skoda's growth next year will be led by the Superb Haorui, launched in August this year, and the Fabia Jingrui, which went on sale at the end of last year. Both models now have monthly sales of around 3,000 units. Skoda has announced plans to upgrade and modify the existing models next year in line with customer demands.
Miling said: "It's already planned. We also plan to have a sporty version in the market next year. We are part of Shanghai Volkswagen's dual-brand strategy. We are sharing experience and knowledge (with the Volkswagen brand) and creating synergies. We can make Shanghai Volkswagen grow even faster."
During the first 10 months of this year, Skoda accounted for 16.3 percent of the total sales of the joint venture. The facility also manufactures a wide-range of Volkswagen branded models.
Miling said Skoda will accelerate its development in south China as part of Volkswagen Group's long-term plan, unveiled on Nov 22. This initiative will see annual sales more than triple in the region, with an ultimate target of some 500,000 units.
The Czech brand's market share in south China has grown to 1.3 percent this year from 0.8 percent last year, according to Miling. Skoda now has a total of 231 dealerships and showrooms across China.
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