Czech Skoda Auto sells 12.6 percent more cars in first nine months

Central Europe's biggest car producer, Czech-based Skoda Auto, sold a record 462,429 vehicles in the first nine months of the year, 12.6 percent more than during the same period in 2006, the company announced on Thursday. Highest sales were in western Europe with 249,555 vehicles sold, or 9.0 percent more than in 2006, Skoda said. The car producer, which is the Czech Republic's principal exporter, is struggling to meet strong demand and recently announced that its best-selling Octavia model would be produced using spare capacity at Volkswagen's plant in neighbouring Slovakia.