Czech Republic March 2018: Skoda Karoq up to record #4

The Skoda Karoq is up to a record 4th place at home this month.

* See the Top 40 best-selling brands and Top 275 models by clicking on the title *

Further indicating a plateau or decline in 2018, the Czech new car market endures its 4th year-on-year drop in the past 5 months in March at -8.7% to 24.453 registrations, leading to a YTD volume dipping its toes into negative territory at -0.3% to 67.873 units. Homegrown leader Skoda resists better than the market with a 1% drop to 31.6% shares vs. 33.4% YTD (+12%) but Volkswagen freefalls 23% both in March and YTD, however remaining in 2nd place in both rankings. Hyundai (-21%) is up one spot on February to return to the third place it held over the FY2017, while Dacia is down one to #4 but up 7% year-on-year, edging past Ford (-16%) for just 3 sales. Kia (+16%) and most strikingly Toyota (+37%) post the largest and only double-digit gains in the Top 15 while Opel (-32%), Seat (-28%) and Renault (-23%) are hit the hardest. Further down, Suzuki (+56%), Alfa Romeo (+39%), Mazda (+21%), Tesla (+20%) and Ferrari (+17%) impress.

In the models ranking, the Skoda Octavia (-10%), Fabia (+14%) and Rapid (+12%) hold onto their traditional spots while the Skoda Karoq is up one rank to a record 4th place with 3.4% share. This is now higher than the carmaker’s other recent SUV launch, the Kodiaq, which peaked at #5 in April 2017. The Nissan Qashqai surges 56% year-on-year and 6 spots on February to become the best-selling foreigner in the country at #5, followed by the VW Golf (-20%), Ford Focus (+119%) and Dacia Duster (+10%). The Ford Kuga (+121%), BMW 5 Series (+96%), Toyota Corolla (+94%), Mercedes GLC (+74%), Suzuki S-Cross (+69%), Toyota Yaris (+63%), Dacia Dokker (+34%) and Sandero (+28%) lodge some of the largest improvements in the Top 50 while the Opel Crossland X at #33 (+17 on February) follows the Karoq in the recent launches ranking, ahead of the Kia Stonic at #35 (+19), Seat Arona at #48 (+21) and Citroen C3 Aircross at #62 (+65).

Previous month: Czech Republic February 2018: First podium for Dacia, Skoda Karoq in Top 5

Previous year: Czech Republic Full Year 2017: Octavia #1, 4 Skodas in Top 4, record market

Full March 2018 Top 40 brands and Top 275 models below.