SUVs remain most popular category in Czech automobile market
The share of SUV models in Czech car sales has gone up to nearly 32 percent in the past three years, making them the best-selling category of cars. While Škoda tops other manufacturers in the amount of models sold, it does not dominate the category as much as it does others through the compact Octavia and supermini Fabia. Car companies are now flooding the market with new variations of SUVs.
According to data from the country’s Car Importers Association, the category was also the overall best seller in the Czech automobile market in 2017 and 2018, exceeding the second ranked compact car by 12 percent in the first half of 2019.
While the compact car and small car categories have traditionally been dominated by the Škoda Octavia and Škoda Fabia respectively, when it comes to SUVs the market is much more levelled.
The most popular model in the first half of 2019 was the Škoda Karoq with 6,000 models sold followed by the mid-size crossover SUV Škoda Kodiaq, which was purchased by 4,000 buyers. Placing third, just behind the Kodiaq, was the comparatively cheaper Dacia Duster.
Meanwhile, car manufacturers are bringing in new SUV models onto the market. Škoda is introducing a third model in the category this year in the form of a new Kamiq, while Toyota has three specific SUV models on offer.
Toyota’s head of marketing in the Czech Republic, Petr Korecký, said that the Czech consumer is currently interested in larger cars, which can serve to transport children to school in the morning and a trip to the country house in the afternoon.
The Car Importers Association reports that in the first half of 2019, the amount of registered automobiles in the Czech Republic reached 8,059,156 million vehicles, 5.9 percent of which are personal cars. The average age of a vehicle lies at 17,78 years.
