Skoda auto expansion in China, India fuels record 2010 sales

Skoda Auto AS, the Czech unit of Volkswagen AG, said it will post record sales this year, fueled by sales growth in China, India and Russia and further expansion in Eastern Europe.

Sales in the first 11 months rose 12.3 percent to 702,400 vehicles, the company said in an e-mailed statement. That’s more than last year’s total sales of 700,000 cars, according to the statement.

The carmaker expects to sell about 750,000 vehicles this year, board member Juergen Stackmann said in the statement. Total November sales jumped 15.8 percent while sales in the Czech Republic, the company’s home market, rose 5.1 percent during the period.

“Skoda is firing up,” Stackmann said in the statement. “These results are more than a solid base for our growth ambitions in the coming years.”

Sales in China in the first 11 months of the year rose 56 percent to 167,000 cars. Russia posted growth of 38 percent to 41,500 vehicles and India rose 33 percent to 17,800 vehicles.

Markets in eastern Europe also expanded, with 16 percent growth in Ukraine, 11 percent growth in Hungary and 19 percent growth in Slovenia, the company said.