Czech car sales fell in the first half of the year as measures to encourage households to buy new vehicles failed to compensate for a slump in corporate purchases, official data showed on Tuesday.
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Passenger and light utility car sales sank by 12.4% year on year to 92,100 units in the first half as sales to companies fell by a quarter, the Car Importers Association said in a statement cited by news agency AFP.
Passenger car sales rose 7.9% to 79,228 units due to special discounts offered by dealers amid the crisis and to tax deductions introduced in April. But growth was outweighed by a 60% slump in light utility car sales to 12,872 units.
VW unit Skoda remained the top selling car brand with 21,833 units sold, down 1.8%, followed by Ford and Volkswagen.
Imports of used cars sank 41% to 71,411 units as new car prices decreased and the koruna currency weakened against the euro, the association said.
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By GlobalDataIn neighbouring Slovakia, new car sales in the first half stayed flat compared with a year ago owing to a boost from the government’s scrap-for-new scheme, the Slovak Car Importers Association told AFP.
The government earmarked EUR55.3m (US$77.4m) in March to spur more than 40,000 buyers to get a new car in exchange for their old one amid the global downturn.
Slovak authorities registered 48,187 cars in the first half of the year, only 20 fewer than a year earlier.
Skoda was the leader in Slovakia too with a market share of 16.55%, followed by Peugeot and Renault, AFP added.
