AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/04 Report--

A few days ago, the Skoda Automobile website of Volkswagen Group released its first-half results. According to the report, Skoda achieved operating income of 13.652 billion euros in the first half of the year, down 0.7% from the same period last year. Although operating income was basically the same as that in the same period, operating profit increased significantly. Skoda's operating profit in the first half was 1.149 billion yuan, an increase of 26.1% over the same period last year.

In terms of sales, Skoda sold a total of 448600 vehicles worldwide in the first half of the year, up 3.8 per cent from a year earlier. Skoda, which is currently the fourth best-selling brand in Europe, said this was thanks to a significantly upgraded model mix and extensive powertrain. In terms of specific models, Mingrui is Skoda's best-selling product with cumulative sales of 121300 vehicles in the first half of 2024 (an increase of 24.1% over the same period last year). In addition, the sales of Cormick, Jingrui and Klock were 61100 (up 4.7 per cent), 56800 (17.5 per cent) and 53000 (0.7 per cent) respectively. In addition, other models have declined.

Skoda's global sales growth year-on-year is mainly due to the European market. Among them, Skoda's sales in Western Europe increased by 9.8% to 260100 vehicles compared with the same period last year. Germany is the largest single market in the world, with sales up 17.8% to 91100 vehicles. Sales in Central Europe fell 3.3% to 95800 vehicles. Among them, the local market, the Czech Republic, fell 6.0% year-on-year to 41300 vehicles, while sales in Eastern Europe rose 7.7% to 24400 vehicles. Skoda sold just 7100 vehicles in China in the first half, down 44.3 per cent from a year earlier. Retail data show that Skoda's highest-selling model in China in the first half of the year was the Cormick, which was 2181, while the Speedpack, Kroc and Kodiak were 2168, 1309 and 1092 respectively, and the other models were all less than 1,000. According to 36 Krypton, multiple sources said Skoda is making a strategic contraction in the Chinese market, and its production, channel and brand operations have been integrated into SAIC-Volkswagen system. This is Skoda's final decision on whether to withdraw from the Chinese market, that is, to shrink its business in the Chinese market as a whole, but still retain the Skoda brand. According to people familiar with the matter, Skoda has closed the first Anting factory in Shanghai, which used to manufacture Volkswagen POLO and Skoda Jingrui, but now Jingrui has stopped production and some of its production lines have been relocated to Jiangsu. Skoda shares Changsha and Nanjing plants with SAIC-Volkswagen, but more resources are devoted to SAIC-Volkswagen production. Changsha plant retains only Kodiak production, while Nanjing plant retains Komick and Express production. It is reported that Skoda will not sell the new generation of Kodiak models in China, which means that Kodiak will stop production and sales. In terms of dealer network, most of Skoda's distribution channels have been merged into SAIC-Volkswagen, running in the form of "store in store". Sales, maintenance and financial services are all responsible for SAIC-Volkswagen, and the related business and employees of Skoda brand have also been incorporated into SAIC-Volkswagen's system. According to the official website of SAIC Volkswagen Skoda, there are only 78 Skoda dealers left in China, and the figure may be even lower due to delays in updating the official website. While the Chinese market is shrinking strategically, Skoda has also begun to strengthen the market position of India and Vietnam. It is understood that Skoda's focus in the Asian market has begun to shift to Southeast Asia, hoping to help Volkswagen gain 4 per cent of the Indian market share by 2026 with its compact SUV project Project India 2.5. This strategy will not only strengthen Skoda's market position in India, but also expand to the ASEAN region through the center of India. In addition, Skoda has already laid out in the Vietnamese market and plans to use the local CKD strategy to sell vehicles. Skoda will produce the Kushaq in Vietnam, the company's strategic model for the Southeast Asian market. It is reported that Skoda will not sell the new generation of Kodiak models in China, which means that SAIC Skoda Kodiak will stop production and sales in the future.

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