If you were to ask MotorMartin which manufacturer has worked the hardest recently to change their image for the better, then surely ŠKODA are that company. After all, back when MotorMartin was a short trousered youth, ŠKODA did not exactly have a reputation that encouraged customers into the showroom. The shame is that the rather humdrum styling hid extremely capable, if rather basic cars.
And now, just a couple of decades later, ŠKODA have a range of vehicles on sale that most manufacturers would be proud of.
Because of this, ŠKODA has recorded its best ever six-month sales period in the UK, with a staggering 42,233 new cars registered from January to June. That’s almost 1,000 more vehicles than the brand sold in the entire 12 months of 2010 (41,240). Compared to a figure of 39,463 units for January to June 2015, it means a growth of 11 per cent and gives the brand a year-to-date market share of 3 per cent. Very, very impressive.
ŠKODA have informed MotorMartin that their share of the new car market in the UK also rose in June, despite the overall market seeing a 0.8 per cent decline. The Czech brand’s sales are up year-on-year according to SMMT figures released this week, with 9,035 finding new homes – making it ŠKODA’s best ever June in the UK, 900 vehicles ahead of the same period in 2015.
Market share for the month of June was 3.53 per cent; year-to-date market share for the brand stands at 3 per cent.
ŠKODA have also shared with MotorMartin that they have also experienced a record number of customer orders during the first six months of 2016, 11 per cent up on 2015.
Rather mpressively, in MotorMartin’s opinion, growth for the brand has been evident across both retail and fleet sectors with the former enjoying a 12.8 per cent increase over the same six-month period of 2015, and fleet sales up 2.3 per cent.
And demand across ŠKODA’s model range this year has remained strong. Of particular note was the phenomenal demand for the Fabia super-mini, which is up 22.8 per cent on the same period last year, and the incredible demand for the flagship Superb, up 70.6 per cent on 2015 – a record in the UK!
Duncan Movassaghi, Brand Director at ŠKODA UK shared with MotorMartin that; “This is a thrilling result. We have long made cars which offer great engineering and exceptional value-for-money. With the introduction of our new design language, in the latest generation Fabia and Superb models in particular, we also have cars which offer striking contemporary design, too. This is a healthy foundation from which we will build the brand. With the imminent arrival of Kodiaq, our large seven-seater SUV, everyone in ŠKODA is excited about the future.” and you can’t really argue with that can you.
A MotorMartin well done then to ŠKODA for some excellent sales figures backed up by the SMMT and with such an impressive range, this will surely continue for the foreseeable future.
Where will you go?