By Leos Rousek
PRAGUE--Volkswagen AG's (VOW.XE) Czech unit Skoda Auto AS said
Thursday its global sales rose to a record high in October, driven
by a surging demand in Europe for its renewed model range, results
that may herald a sustained rebound from poorer sales earlier in
the year and a possible pickup in the Czech economy.
"Worldwide sales growth has confirmed the strength of our brand
and the appeal of our refreshed model line-up," said Werner
Eichhorn, a Skoda Auto board member in charge of sales. "With eight
new and reworked models Skoda Auto has reached another record
despite difficult market conditions.
Skoda Auto sold 83,800 cars in October, up 7.5% from 78,000 in
the same month last year. However, in the ten months through
end-October Skoda Auto sales dropped 3.3% on the year to 768,700
cars, as customers waited for the release of the car maker's new
models in the summer or later.
Skoda Auto is the country's biggest exporter and bellwether for
the local automotive- and electronics-centered economy. Its October
sales bode well for the overall Czech economy through the year-end,
after an unexpected contraction in the three months to
end-September.
Earlier Thursday, the Czech statistics bureau released its
preliminary flash estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product,
which declined 0.5% against the previous three months. Analysts had
forecast a 0.5% quarterly expansion.
In Western Europe, where auto demand has been at a record low
since the early 1990s, Skoda Auto fared well by boosting its
October sales 17% to 32,400 cars from a year earlier. In Germany
alone, one Skoda Auto's key markets, sales totaled 12,100 cars in
October, up 24% from the same month last year.
However, the company's sales in China, its key Asian market,
fell 6% year-on-year in October to 21,500 vehicles. The car maker
said it remains confident that its Chinese sales will recover after
the recent launch of its completely revamped flagship sedan,
Superb.
Despite difficult market conditions, Skoda Auto still plans to
boost its annual sales to at least 1.5 million cars by 2018,
compared with 939,000 vehicle sales in 2012, the company said.
Write to Leos Rousek at leos.rousek@wsj.com
Go to http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope for the new WSJ and
Dow Jones blog on Central and Eastern Europe, covering business,
politics, society and more, written by our correspondents across
the region.
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