Skoda said 2011 was the best fiscal year in corporate history, after it set new records for deliveries, sales and profit.
Deliveries rose 15.3% to 879,200 cars last year as sales increased 18.1% to EUR10.3bn, passing the EUR10bn mark for the first time.
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Operating profit improved 66.1% to EUR743m due to increased sales and an improved model mix plus cost reductions. The brand increased investments with plsnt spending rising EUR165m from 2010 to EUR568m last year.
“Investment in products, structures and capacity will be the basis for further growth,” said CFO Winfried Krause.
The Volkswagen group unit aims to raise deliveries to at least 1.5m cars per year by 2018, thanks to new models.
“Our growth strategy is bringing results,” CEO Winfried Vahland told the annual press conference in Prague. “We improved in deliveries and in financial terms, creat[ed] an excellent base for our growth course in years to come.”
The brand grew more than the overall market in all sales regions and improved its market share in almost all individual markets. Global market share rose to over 1.4% by the end of 2011.
Skoda achieved its strongest percentage growth in eastern Europe, where it advanced 47%. Russia was the strongest individual market in the region with sales up 62.5% to 74,100 units.
In India, where some models are assembled in a plant shared with parent VW, sales increased nearly 50%. In China, the brand’s largest market, volume grew 21.9% to about 220,100 cars.
While the overall western Europe market declined by 1.5%, Skoada sales rose 8.6%, and by 13% in VW’s home patch of Germany. Sales were also strong in central Europe’s otherwise declining markets, with the brand achieving a sales increase of 1.7%.
At home in the Czech Republic, Skoda remained top of the charts, accounting for over one in three sales last year.
The Octavia was the most popular model in 2011, with volume up 10.7% to almost 390,000.
VW group books record profits in 2011
