Skoda Auto's sales continue to grow in the first half 2006

Skoda Auto sold 274,904 vehicles worldwide of its Fabia, Octavia, Superb and Roomster model lines in 90 markets worldwide in the first half of 2006, achieving 12.4% growth year-on-year.

The best-selling model line was the Octavia (136,902 vehicles, +21.4%), followed by the Fabia (126,450 vehicles worldwide, +4.2%) and the Superb (10,709 vehicles, +2.6%).

Skoda’s fourth model line made its debut in the market – the Roomster was launched in June, beginning in the Czech Republic. The first 843 Roomsters have already been delivered to customers there and the company is going to launch the brand new vehicle in other European markets in the second half of this year. Customer orders indicate very good market acceptance of Skoda’s newest model.

Skoda supplied a total of 155,030 vehicles to customers in Western Europe over the first half of 2006 (10.3% growth). The most important factor in the good result was a positive trend in Germany, Spain and Belgium. The 19.2% growth, to 50,615 vehicles, in Germany has reinforced Germany's position as Skoda's largest market. Despite the overall market slump in Spain, Skoda sales have grown by 13.9% to 13,017 vehicles. Altogether, 6,905 customers (+50.7%) bought Skodas in Belgium from January through June.

Sales in the UK totalled 19,916for the first half of 2006. This is a market share of 1.6% and a five percent increase over the same period of 2005. Fabia is the biggest-seller at 9,577, followed by Octavia (9,218) and Superb (1,121).

The Czech Republic, the company's domestic market, saw a 6.1% decrease in demand for new vehicles over the same period. A strong factor affecting the new-vehicle market in the Czech Republic is a 12.6% increase in the number of used vehicles imported into the country. Despite the difficult conditions, Skoda Auto has managed to defend its dominant market share with 31,954 vehicles in total.

Pushing up its sales by 17.8% and continuing to increase its market share compared with the previous year, Skoda Auto sold 67,667 vehicles in the growing region of Central and Eastern Europe (the Czech Republic not included). The most dynamic growth areas included the Ukraine (+89.4%), Russia (+79.9%), Romania (+40.9%) and in the Baltic countries.

Skoda has also increased its sales in Asia and overseas, (20,253 vehicles in total from January thorugh June 2006, +44%). The most successful overseas markets are India (6,004 sales), Turkey (3,690) and Egypt (2,566).