AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/22 Report--

Volkswagen is working on a new plan to revive flagging sales of the Skoda brand in China, according to media reports. Volkswagen has concluded negotiations with SAIC to further discuss details of how to help Skoda out of its difficulties.

On April 22, SAIC Skoda announced a series of new measures aimed at the Chinese market, such as price cuts for all its products through an online press conference. Skoda officially announced that it will adjust the official guidance price of the whole car, covering all of its nine major models, with the latest suggested retail price range of 77900 yuan to 247900 yuan, with a maximum drop of 24500 yuan. Among them, the maximum reduction of the Kodiak series is 24500 yuan, the starting price of the Cormick series is adjusted to 89900 yuan, and the starting price of the bright sharp series is adjusted to 99900 yuan.

Since 2010, the Chinese market has become Skoda's largest single market. Cumulative global sales of Skoda fell 1 per cent year-on-year to 1.2 million vehicles in 2019, with cumulative sales in China falling 17 per cent to 282000 vehicles, according to the data. Even with a double-digit year-on-year decline, China is still Skoda's largest single market, but the brand is the only one in Volkswagen Group with declining sales, and it is urgent to boost Skoda brand sales.

For Skoda brand, the problem encountered in the Chinese market at this stage is more serious, in addition to the current recession in the Chinese market, the epidemic is also one of the important reasons for the decline in sales. According to the China Automobile Association, car sales in China were 3.672 million in the first quarter, down 42.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Affected by the epidemic, Skoda brand sales in China fell 54.90% to 29000 vehicles in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Skoda's performance in the first quarter was not satisfactory. In April, Skoda has gradually got rid of the interference of the epidemic, and the dealer passenger flow has gradually returned to the pre-epidemic level. In addition to reducing the price of all products, Skoda will also bring a zero-interest consumer credit financial policy covering all models, as well as a stronger second-hand car replacement support program.

Stephen Wallenstein, president of Volkswagen China, said that the business of brands such as Renault and Skoda in China has been eroded, eventually making it more and more difficult to make profits. but Volkswagen is still confident that Skoda will return to the same growth path as Volkswagen and Audi.

Reviving sales of the Skoda brand is a top priority. Skoda said that at present, 10 products have been launched in five factories around the world, of which Cormick and Kodiak GT are special models for China. In the future, Skoda will release 30 new cars within two years and focus on selling SUV models to help meet its goal of selling 2 million cars by 2030. In addition, in terms of electrification, Skoda will launch 10 all-electric and hybrid models by 2030.

For Skoda's official downgrade, some netizens said, "sell whatever price you should, and the behavior of exchanging the market with the price is not advocated, not to mention the great harm to your own brand in the long run, as well as to the dealers." Some netizens also believe that "the current epidemic has done a lot of harm to car brands, and Skoda price reduction is also a wise choice, on the one hand, it can improve the competitiveness of brands, on the other hand, consumers can also buy cars at lower prices." However, whether Skoda's official downgrade can achieve the goal of increasing sales has yet to be verified by the market!

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat