Skoda delivered 12.6% fewer vehicles in 2021 but still achieved a sales return of 6.1% as production was hit hard by supply bottlenecks and fuel shortages. semiconductors.
The Czech company delivered 878,200 cars and achieved a turnover of 17.7 billion euros (£14.7 billion), an increase of 3.9%, and a significant increase in its profit operating expenses, up 43.2% to €1.08 billion (£899 million). Cash flow also increased by 160% to €554m (£453m).
Although Christian Schenk, Skoda’s board member for finance and IT, suggests that the first two quarters of 2021 have gone “almost seamlessly”, Skoda has suffered a significant drop in production from in the third quarter, due to parts supply issues and production stoppages.
“2021 has been an extremely difficult fiscal year. We handled the situation calmly and in line with our ‘just smart’ philosophy,” Shenck said.
“We were able to increase our operating profit compared to the previous year to more than €1 billion, through a tight-knit team performance. Turnover also developed positively despite low sales figures due to production constraints.
Skoda expects semiconductor shortages to ease through 2022, but have suggested the war in Ukraine will continue to impact production.
“The war in Ukraine will have, in addition to serious humanitarian and political consequences, serious additional repercussions on our activities. It is still too early to predict all the effects on our supply chain, material costs and general economic consequences,” said CEO Thomas Schäfer.
Like sister brand Volkswagen, Skoda has been hit hard by shortages of Ukrainian-made wiring harnesses. It stopped production of the Skoda Enyaq iV earlier this month but said it would continue to use the same supplier.
During this time, the Skoda Octavia was the company’s best-selling car. It sold 200,800, followed by Skoda Kamiq with 120,700 and Skoda Karoq with 119,200. SUVs accounted for 60% of Skoda’s overall sales in 2021.
Schäiron revealed that Skoda has three electric cars in development. He didn’t reveal any details about them, but hinted that an electric Octavia was in the works.
Skoda is working with Volkswagen to develop the successor to the successful duo Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat.
Skoda has confirmed that hydrogen is not on the agenda, saying there is “nothing more sensible than battery-electric driving”.
It aims to increase its share of electric vehicles to 50-70% – a figure which should be reinforced by the Enyaq iV.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-22 11:14:34
