Skoda sales in China have been falling for the fifth year in a row under pressure from successfully developing local brands. Rumors about Skoda's possible departure from China have been circulating in the business media since last winter, and now another confirmation has appeared: it has become known that the second-generation Skoda Kodiaq crossover, which made its world premiere last week, will not be sold in China.
Skoda entered the Chinese market in 2007, the peak of sales of the Czech brand here was in 2018, then more than 350,000 thousand cars of the Czech brand were sold. The Kodiaq was one of the most successful Skoda models in China; an exclusive coupe version of the Kodiaq GT was even developed especially for this market, which, along with the regular Kodiak and other local Skoda models, is still produced at the facilities of the SAIC VW joint venture.
Chinese Kodiaq GT
At the presentation of the new Kodiak (shown in the title photo), the current Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer told a correspondent for the business publication Automotive News Europe that the second-generation crossover will not be offered on the Chinese market and, in general, the future of the brand here is “in the process of discussion with the Chinese partner.” This should probably be understood in such a way that it will soon be announced that Skoda will leave China — there is all objective evidence for this.
From January to August this year, Skoda, according to CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers), sold only 16,308 cars in China, which is 49.4% less than sales in the same period in 2022. The subcompact crossover Kamiq is currently in greatest demand (4,977 units sold from January to August, -46.4%), Octavia is in second place (3,190 units, -58.6%), Kodiaq is in third (2,740 units, -21 .4%).
Skoda did not dare to sell electric models in China, and did the right thing — the related electric cars of VW and Audi sell poorly in China, because they are inferior in terms of technology and consumer qualities of products from local brands, which, in addition, manage to update the most popular models almost every year.
This spring, insiders reported that the Volkswagen concern wants to launch a new youth electric sub-brand in China, which will eventually replace the failed Skoda and Jetta here, but so far these rumors have not been confirmed.
Against the backdrop of falling sales in China and the forced After leaving the Russian Federation, India became the main market for Skoda outside Europe. For this country, the Czech brand has developed the Kushaq crossover and the Slavia sedan, and in the future it wants to launch an inexpensive electric car here. In the first three quarters of this year, Skoda sold 35,736 cars in India (-13.2% compared to sales in the same period last year), which is still not a lot in general. For comparison, let's say that the leader of the Indian market — Maruti Suzuki — sold 1,300,685 cars (+9.2%) from January to September, Hyundai — 454,749 cars (+8.9%). In Russia, at the peak of its career in 2012, Skoda sold 99,062 cars.
In addition to India, Skoda management considers the Vietnamese market promising: the Czech brand launched there this year and wants to reach a sales level of 40,000 cars per year by the end of this decade.
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