Mladá Boleslav - The motor works company Škoda Auto situated in Mladá Boleslav, a part of the German Volkswagen group, informed about the record profits it made last year.
Sales have grown by 9 per cent and reached nearly 8.8 milliard euro (222 mld CZK) last year. Before the taxation, the profit has grown by nearly 40 per cent on 0.8 milliard euro (20 mld CZK).
The head of the board of the directors Reinhard Jung cited these numbers during a press conference. "We have grown faster than the global car market," assured Jung.
Škoda Auto have sold more than 630 thousands of cars last year, which is 15 per cent more than the previous year.
The productivity has grown too - the number of employees has increased by 5 per cent on 29,000. Mostly it was the production sector that has been reinforced, explained Jung.
"Go east" philosophy
The company sold the most cars in western Europe, where its sales have grown by 7.5 per cent. However, eastern markets appear to be promising too, above all Russia. In this country, Škoda Auto has managed to raise its sales by one third.
"By doing this, we have proved the relevance of our 'go east' strategy," commented the financial chief of Škoda Holger Kintsher. Currently, the company is selling every sixth car in eastern Europe. In addition, it has begun to manufacture cars in Russia last year.
The relatively lower rate of growth of sales if compared to the production is due to the strong currency, explained the company. In addition, growing prices of materials and salaries have raised the costs too.
Shares of Škoda in Russian Volkswagen are included in its profits. On the contrary, profits of Škoda in China are included in German Volkswagen´s profit.
This year, the company will introduce the new version of Superb limousine. It also plans to exceed the number of 700,000 sold cars.
