Decision on new VW plant to be made by year's end - Skoda head

CTK

A final decision on the new European production plant of the Volkswagen group, including Czech car maker Skoda Auto, should be made by the end of the year, with two countries being hot candidates, Skoda board chairman Bernhard Maier told journalists at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main yesterday.

According to earlier information, the new plant should be located either in Turkey or in Bulgaria. According to Maier, the final decision has not been made yet and the supervisory board has decided to adopt a new plan of utilisation existing production capacities.

It has been decided that the investment will be made by Volkswagen, but Skoda will gain bigger production capacity in the new plant, Maier said.

Skoda is struggling to fill the production capacities of its plants in Europe. In China, on the other hand, it had to start an extensive campaign to promote its cars owing to the falling demand on the market connected with the US-China trade war.

The decline in China is expected to be offset by high demand in Europe, which is currently exceeding the supply. Skoda also wants to compensate a potential decrease on the British market stemming from Brexit in the same way.

Unlike some other car makers, Skoda is not planning to make layoffs. In 2017, it came up with an extensive programme of steps aimed at preventing a possible drop in demand and it is going to make use of this programme next year, Maier said.

Skoda would like to produce 2 million cars annually in the next 10 years. Last year it produced 1.25 million cars.

About a quarter of all cars sold in 2025 should consist of electric and hybrid cars. Skoda presented its first two electric series models in the company's history, the Citigo iV and the Superb iV plug-in hybrid, in Frankfurt today. By 2022 it wants to introduce 30 new models, including 10 electric ones.

The price of Citigo iV, which is to be delivered to customers early next year, will be Kc429,900, the cheapest electric car price on the Czech market, Skoda Auto said at the motor show. Skoda Auto will stop selling Citigo petrol cars.

In India, where Skoda develops cars for the entire Volkswagen group, it will present the concepts of the first two models next year.

sinfin.digital