Skoda wants to produce 500,000 cars in China in the future, says CEO Vahland
By Andrew, 21 Nov, 2010. 0 Comments
Skoda Octavia Green E Line Concept
Skoda CEO Winfried Vahland says the Company wants to produce 500,000 cars in China in the future. In 2009, Volkswagen AG's Czech subsidiary produced 131,779 cars in China. In the first nine months of 2010, Skoda sold 568,990 vehicles. Vahland said earlier that Skoda expects to double its new-car sales to "at least" 1.5 million in 2020, driven by growth in India, China, and Russia. Skoda sales outside Europe, as part of a 10-year international growth plan, will increase to make up half of Skoda's volume from the current 30 percent.
The Company calls the plan RS after the Czech words rust and strategie, which mean "growth strategy." Skoda also uses the initials RS for the range-topping versions of its cars. Skoda sales rose 1.4 percent to 684,226 in 2009.
The volume in 2010 is set to reach 750,000. In China alone, Skoda's sales grew 65 percent in the first nine months after more than doubling to 122,556 units in 2009. Larger volumes at Skoda will greatly help VW reach its goal of 10 million annual sales by 2018, at which time it hopes to surpass Toyota Motor Corp. as the No. 1 global automaker. [via autonews - sub. required]
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