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Recently, Volkswagen Group's Skoda brand released the latest global sales figures for the first half of the year. According to data, Skoda sold 515300 vehicles worldwide in the first half of 2021, up 20.85 per cent from a year earlier.

In terms of specific models, Mingrui is Skoda's best-selling product, with cumulative sales of 121000 vehicles in the first half of the year. Klock and Kemick sold 75500 and 73700, respectively. In addition, Kodiak sold 64700 vehicles. From a specific market point of view, Skoda's sales volume increased in many markets, including 237900 vehicles in Western Europe, 97400 vehicles in Central Europe, and 22500 vehicles in Eastern Europe, up 30.9%, 15.4% and 35.0% respectively over the same period last year. The Russian market increased by 54.3% to 52800 vehicles.

Compared with the above markets, Skoda's sales in the Chinese market are hardly optimistic. Skoda sold 44000 vehicles in China in the first half of 2021, down 43.1 per cent from a year earlier, according to data. Based on the epidemic last year, Skoda's sales in China in the first half of this year did not grow, but declined, which is regrettable.

Mingrui sold only 6264 vehicles in the first half of the year, including 978 in June, according to the Federation of passengers. On May 17th, Skoda's new generation SAIC bright Pro officially went on sale, with a price range of 12.49-157900 yuan. Mingrui was once a hot-selling model under Skoda, with its atmospheric appearance and solid workmanship, it was sought after by consumers soon after its launch, and became a hot model in the joint venture car market. However, since 2019, with the decline of Skoda brand power, Ming Rui's sales have also declined, with cumulative sales of only 26110 vehicles last year. As an once-popular model of the brand, Ming Rui ushered in a replacement in the first half of this year. The new car is based on the Volkswagen MQB-EVO platform, the exterior and interior are redesigned, and the wheelbase is also more than the overseas version. However, judging from the data, the listing of the new bright sharp is also very difficult to drive the growth of the brand. According to the figures for the first half of the year, the model with the highest sales in the first half was the Xin Rui, with 8551 vehicles, while the Klock was second only to the Xin Rui with 6904 vehicles.

A few days ago, there were media reports that Skoda had disbanded its marketing team in China, along with its R & D team. In response to the above news, some media contacted Skoda officials for confirmation, and the official responded that "this is false news."

Although Skoda has repeatedly announced that it will never withdraw from the Chinese market, its sales decline is an indisputable fact. Skoda's sales in China peaked at 340000 in 2018, and then declined, falling from 340000 to 173000 in just three years, according to the data.

The living environment of second-and third-line joint venture brands is getting worse and worse. An executive of an automobile company once analyzed that "the achievements of second-and third-tier joint venture brands in the Chinese market over the past decade are closely related to the enterprise's own technical strength, model strategy and marketing." but the most fundamental driving force is the market dividend brought by the explosive growth of the Chinese market, but with the market ebb, the upward offensive of independent brands is obvious. The shortcomings of these brands in product strategy, market decision-making and marketing are gradually exposed, and finally show a declining trend. "

Skoda had a dismal year in 2020 under the influence of the epidemic. After entering 2021, although free from the impact of the epidemic, the competition in the automobile market is not inferior to that in previous years. The decline in the price of luxury models, the rise of independent brands, and the survival of mainstream joint venture brands make second-and third-tier brands more difficult. At present, Skoda has no plans to withdraw from the Chinese market for the time being, but its life in the market is also very difficult.

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