Skoda’s worldwide deliveries fell by 16.7 per cent last year as the Czech company battled myriad headwinds.
The company delivered 731,000 cars to customers in 2022, with all of its global nameplates tumbling – with the exception of the high-priority Enyaq electric SUV.
Like the majority of fellow OEMs, Skoda cited headwinds such as the semiconductor shortage, the war in Ukraine (from where Skoda sourced wiring harnesses), other supply chain issues, rising energy and raw material prices, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
Skoda’s annual decline was steeper than most fellow Volkswagen Group brands: Volkswagen Cars fell 6.8 per cent, Volkswagen Commercial fell 8.6 per cent, and Audi fell 3.9 per cent. However, SEAT/Cupra fell 18.1 per cent, due to the former not the latter.
It wasn’t entirely doom and gloom for Skoda, with the brand spruiking the success of its first EV and growth in the potentially massive Indian market – where its sales more than doubled.
The company also claims to hold a high order backlog, as you might imagine.
MORE: Volkswagen Group’s EV sales, staggering order bank detailed
“Never before in its recent history has Škoda Auto been confronted with such extensive challenges as in the past year,” claimed the brand’s CEO Klaus Zellmer.
Deliveries in key Skoda regions fell almost uniformly bar India: Western Europe (377,000, down 7.8 per cent), Central Europe (148,000, down 9.8 per cent), China (44,600, down 37.4 per cent), and Eastern Europe excluding Russia (31,600, down 11.9 per cent).
Skoda’s overall largest market was Germany (134,800 deliveries, down 1.8 per cent), ahead of its Czech Republic home (71,200, down 11 per cent), and India (51,900, up 127.7 per cent).
Škoda deliveries by region in 2022
- Octavia: 141,100, -29.7%
- Kamiq: 96,300, -20.3%
- Kodiaq: 94,500, -4.2%
- Fabia: 92,700, -6.5%
- Karoq: 87,700, -26.4%
- Superb: 60,800, -8.0%
- Enyaq: 53,700, +20.0%
- Scala: 39,500, -17.9%
- Kushaq: 26,800, +110.2%
- Slavia: 20,900
- Rapid: 17,300, -72.8%
2023 will be a busy year for Skoda, with new generations of the Kodiaq and Superb to be revealed, as well as facelifts for both the Kamiq and Scala.
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Australia
This result was echoed in Australia, where Skoda deliveries declined 29.2 per cent to 6502, due largely to shortages of stock.
Yet Skoda Australia anticipates far healthier stock levels from the start of 2023, with a “full normalisation” of supply from its European plants expected by mid-next-year.
As such, the Czech brand’s local arm is forecasting an all-time record since the brand launched here in its present incarnation in 2007 – a combination of delivering on existing orders, and growing its customer base.
While Skoda management would not confirm its internal sales target on the record, company sources told us around 12,000 units for calendar year 2023 was the aim. The brand’s best year so far in Australia was 2021, when it recorded 9185 sales.
MORE: Skoda targets record sales in 2023 as Australian supply improves
MORE: Skoda Scala, Kamiq updates due in 2023, will join new Superb, Kodiaq
