Czech auto maker Skoda posts record sales

Skoda Auto, the largest Czech car maker owned by Germany's Volkswagen, said on Friday it had sold a record 939,200 cars in 2012, an increase of 6.8 percent from the figure for 2011. "Skoda sold 939,200 units last year, more than ever before, despite a crisis on some markets," board chairman Winfried Vahland said in a statement on the company website. In 2011, Skoda sold 879,200 cars worldwide. The company's sales grew in all markets except in crisis-hit western Europe. Sales on the Russian market soared by 33.7 percent from the level a year ago to almost 99,100 units while China saw a 7.1 percent uptick to 235,700 units and sales in India added 14.2 percent or 34,300 cars, Skoda said. Skoda together with South Korea's Hyundai and TPCA, a joint venture between France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and Japan's Toyota, made up 22 percent of the Czech Republic's industrial output in 2011. The three car makers export mostly to western EU neighbours, notably EU powerhouse Germany. Locked in recession for a year, the central bank expects the Czech economy to post an 0.9-percent contraction for 2012, before growing by 0.2 percent this year.