Škoda crosses 1 million sales for the first time ever

Skoda has broken the one million deliveries milestone for the first time in its 120-year history.

Global deliveries increased by 12.7 percent to 1,037,200 vehicles (2013: 920,800) while Škoda’s worldwide market share rose to 1.4 percent (2013: 1.3%). The carmaker also posted record financial results, with sales revenue increasing 13.9 percent to 11.8 billion euros (2013: 10.3 billion euros), and operating profit increasing 56.5 percent to 817 million euros (2013: 522 million euros).

“2014 was another good year for Škoda,” said CEO Prof. Dr Winfried Vahland. “By delivering more than one million vehicles for the first time in a single year, we have sustainably established ourselves as a volume manufacturer on the international markets with our modern model range. It is on this basis that our brand will be perusing our growth strategy.”

“Škoda is growing profitably. Given the challenging situation on the markets and the ongoing intense competition, cost discipline continues to have the highest priority,” said Škoda CFO Winfried Krause. Net liquidity rose 40.3 percent to 2.065 billion euros in 2014 after 1.472 billion euros in 2013. Investments amounted to 698 million euros in 2014 (2013: 741 million euros). Profit before tax reached 775 million euros (2013: 536 million euros), and profit after tax in 2014 totalled 665 million euros (2013: 455 million euros).

Skoda says the year 2014 was characterised by the most comprehensive and ambitious model campaign and aims to continue growth this year with the arrival of the new Fabia and new Superb. Over the next few months, the company plans to introduce more products including the new Octavia RS 230, the new Fabia Monte Carlo and the ‘Edition’ model for the Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Yeti series.

Now the carmaker is targeting global sales of at least 1.5 million vehicles within the next few years. “After crossing the million mark, 1.5 million seems a whole lot closer,” said Prof. Vahland. To achieve growth targets, the manufacturer is expanding the production plants both in the Czech Republic and at other sites around the world.