Skoda, one of the main brands of the German auto giant VAG, has summed up the results of 2020. For the seventh consecutive year, the annual deliveries of cars under the ŠKODA brand have exceeded one million units. True, last year, instead of the expected growth, the manufacturer recorded a decline in sales, which was caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the end of 2020, SKODA delivered 1,004,800 vehicles, which is 19.1% less than in 2019, when deliveries amounted to 1,242,800 vehicles. In large measure, the drop was caused by the closure of the Czech ŠKODA plant for 39 days, when the government of the Czech Republic declared a state of emergency at the very beginning of the pandemic. Also, the drop in sales is associated with the fact that for a long time, due to quarantine, many sales channels were closed.
Nevertheless, SKODA management says that despite the coronavirus pandemic, last year was successful for the brand. The company renewed its model range and took on additional development commitments within the Volkswagen Group in the Russian and North African markets. She is also currently developing new generations of the SKODA SUPERB and Volkswagen Passat, which will begin production in 2023 at the VAG plant in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Research and development spending fell 27% last year to € 712 million. But SKODA plans to resume investment in R&D soon, promising to allocate 2.5 billion euros by 2025 for the development of new technologies and cars. Moreover, about 1.2 billion of them will be directed specifically to the creation of electric vehicles.
As for the model range, the most popular SKODA car is still the new OCTAVIA. In 2020, it sold 257,400 units, doubling in sales volume of KAROQ, the second most popular model in the brand’s lineup. KODIAQ and KAMIQ each accounted for 130,000 units, while sales of the outdated FABIA dropped to 105,500 units.
Nevertheless, SKODA management says that despite the coronavirus pandemic, last year was successful for the brand. The company renewed its model range and took on additional development commitments within the Volkswagen Group in the Russian and North African markets. She is also currently developing new generations of the SKODA SUPERB and Volkswagen Passat, which will begin production in 2023 at the VAG plant in Bratislava, Slovakia.
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