Skoda can't keep up with demand

Skoda boss Bernhard Maier has admitted that his car-maker could have sold another 100,000 cars globally if the Czech brand had more production capacity.

Instead, Skoda had to make do with shifting a record 1,253,700 vehicles -- 4.4 per cent more cars that it made in 2017.

“We would have been able to sell more than 100,000 vehicles than we did [last year] because of a lack of production capacity,” said Maier, speaking to

According to the Skoda chairman, if the car-maker had managed to match demand, it could have upped production on the Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Superb, plus its fast-selling Karoq and Kodiaq.

Down Under, Skoda sales were down 20 per cent, with the brand only selling 5807 cars but with the arrival of both the Kodiaq and forthcoming Karoq its fortunes are set to change.

Originally, Skoda had hoped to increase its output at its Czech plants in Milada Boleslav and Kvasiny by adding shifts over the weekend but its plans were dashed when unions voted to veto the extra shifts.

To help cope in the future, Skoda is now reportedly looking to build yet another plant with the Czech Republic that could also make vehicles for other members of the Volkswagen Group.

“By the middle of this year we have to decide whether to push the button,” said Maier.

It's not yet confirmed what will be made at the new factory, but the Skoda boss' reference to a "completely different product line-up" could be a reference to the car-maker's expansion into pure-electric vehicles.

As well as factories working flat out, Maier also conceded in the interview that there had also been some shortages caused by difficulties of re-homologating petrol and diesel engines in light of the new WLTP regulations, although the Skoda boss stressed that the biggest cause of the lack of production was caused by not enough capacity at its current plants.