Skoda Auto will raise unit sales this year by at least 7.5% and revenue will grow by 21%, a senior company official told Reuters on Wednesday.
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Skoda’s head of marketing and sales Fred Kappler said at an industry conference the car maker would sell at least 485,000 cars this year, with an increasing portion of higher value-added brands which would boost revenue and profit.
“This is the minimum number,” Kappler, a Skoda board member said, according to the report. “Profits should also rise on all levels.”
Reuters noted that Skoda made a net profit of 3.5 billion crowns ($US141.4 million) on sales of 153.6 billion last year and added that Kappler said sales this year should reach 186.3 billion crowns.
Exports accounted for 85% of Skoda sales last year, the report added.
Kappler reportedly added Skoda aimed to raise output to 600,000 cars in 2008-2010 and keep raising production towards 800,000-1,000,000 units around 2015. He also said that a target of making 600,000 cars next year, reported in the daily Pravo on Wednesday, was incorrect.
Reuters added that Skoda will launch next year a car based on its Roomster study, a family car with variable interior and has also said it would add a fifth line, based on the Yeti small sports utility car concept, at a later date.
According to the news agency, Kappler said Skoda will start assembly in Kazakhstan on a small scale later this month, adding to assembly lines in Ukraine, India and Bosnia.
In the first half of this year, Skoda raised unit sales by 7.3% to 244,569 cars after selling 451,675 cars last year, Reuters added.
