Skoda to double annual Australian sales

Skoda has announced plans to double its annual sales in Australia within the next five years.

Speaking with media at a briefing in Sydney on Monday, visiting global board member for sales and marketing, Alain Favey, previewed more incoming models and, subsequently, greater volume from the Czech car-maker.

Citing a global plan that will see Skoda less reliant on European sales, Favey said he wanted to promote growth across the Asia Pacific.

“We have a strategy for 2025, and that has an international aspect to it. We are very clearly of the view that we should be less reliant on the European market, our home market,” he said.

“We have a huge success story to write in the Australian market, I personally see the possibility to double the sales in the next five years.”

If Favey’s ambitions materialise, Skoda’s Australian sales will balloon to roughly 13,000 vehicles annually by 2023. That would equate to roughly 25 per cent of Volkswagen’s current volume.

“The strategy is not rocket science, it is just a continuation of our worldwide strategy: working on the product and the brand in parallel in order to make both of them more appealing and more consistent with what Australian customers want,” he said.

“We will be bringing with more emphasis our SUV products into the Australian market starting with next year.”

First cab off the rank for Skoda’s broadened model range in Australia will be the introduction of a new all-wheel drive Karoq Sportline variant, powered by the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous 140TDI diesel engine. It will coincide with the arrival of the facelifted Superb.

Those will be followed by the Scala small car due in Australia early 2020, along with a small crossover previewed by the Skoda Vision X concept.

“Later in 2020 there will be the new Octavia. That car is still the biggest seller for us globally, and it will be a completely new car, which will be renewed in every aspect,” Favey revealed.

“We will bring a lot of new products, a fireworks of products,” he continued.

“We have worked a lot on the brand, it needs to live up to the level of our products, which have improved immensely over the years.”

Skoda Australia boss Michael Irmer echoed Favey’s sentiments, confirming the new model onslaught would be accompanied by larger shipments to Australia.

“At the moment we are happy as well as sad that we are experiencing long wait times for the Octavia, despite it being in the second half of its lifecycle,” Irmer said.

“We discussed this today and we are expecting we will have more supply from April next year onwards. Dealers will be able to take deliveries in larger numbers from next month onwards.”