Year on year ŠKODA’s deliveries to customers rose 3.3% to about 83,900. From January through September 2012, the brand’s sales increased by 7.9% year on year. In total, ŠKODA delivered 717,200 cars to customers as at the end of September 2012 (January through September 2011: 664,800).

‘ŠKODA has grown further in September 2012 despite an increasingly challenging environment, said Werner Eichhorn, ŠKODA board member for sales and marketing. ‘The situation, especially in some European markets, remains difficult. We have held our own and gained further market share. We expect a tailwind in the months ahead as we launch our new ŠKODA Rapid in the markets from October 2012,’ he added.

In Western Europe, ŠKODA suffered from the market’s weakness, but performed better than the overall market, delivering a total of 33,700 cars in September 2012 (September 2011: 35,200). ŠKODA’s market share rose from 2.8 to over three percent in the first nine months of this year. The brand especially showed good health in Germany, its largest European market, where it grew 9.2% to about 13,700 sold, bucking a strongly declining overall market. In Great Britain, the brand’s second-largest market in Western Europe, ŠKODA sold over 7,400 (+ 1.1%) for the second-best sales figure there in corporate history.

In Eastern Europe, too, ŠKODA outperformed the market in September 2012. Deliveries rose 22.7% to 11,700 (September 2011: 9,500), making ŠKODA’s growth three times faster than that of the Eastern European market overall (with 7.2 % forecasted). The brand’s share of the market in Eastern Europe rose from 3.4 to over four % in the first nine months of 2012. In Russia, the region’s largest market, ŠKODA posted a plus of 35.1 %, selling 8,800 cars (September 2011: 6,500) and outperforming the market by a factor of over three.

In Central Europe, ŠKODA sold 9,300 cars in September 2012 (September 2011: 10,400). The Central European market overall was weaker year on year, declining by 4.4%. In its home market the Czech Republic, ŠKODA delivered over 4,600 cars to customers in September 2012 (September 2011: 5,100), translating into a market share of some 37%. In the first nine months of 2012, ŠKODA raised deliveries in Central Europe to 94,000 for a year on year increase of three percent, expanding the brand’s market share in the region from 18.4 to 18.8% in the same period.

ŠKODA also posted growth in the Chinese market as sales rose 6.6 % to 22,500 in September 2012 (September 2011: 21,100) for the best monthly figure ever since ŠKODA started selling cars in China.

ŠKODA advanced further in India in September 2012, raising sales by 18.3% to over 2,600 (September 2011: 2,200). In the first nine months of 2012, ŠKODA deliveries in India were up 32.9% to 28,100, meaning the brand outperformed the overall market almost threefold as the latter is forecast to have grown by 11.2 in the same period.