Skoda succeeds in Germany

The Czech carmaker Skoda, a division of the Volkswagen group, has succeeded in posting double-digit sales growth in Germany despite the weak market, the company said. Skoda sold over 57,000 cars in the first nine months in Germany, up 10 per cent over the same period last year. This boosted Skoda's share of the German car market to 2.25 per cent. The sales in Germany were part of total worldwide sales of 357,000 cars in the first nine months, up 13.5 per cent from the same period of 2000, Skoda said. The Czech carmaker, which had boosted its sales in Germany last year by 21 per cent to reach 70,000, is now projecting sales to the German market of 77,000 cars for the full year 2001.