Czech Republic March 2019: Skoda Scala lands directly at #10 in 7th straight market drop (-12.1%)

The Skoda Scala has landed in its home charts with a bang.

The Czech new car market is embattled in a post-WLTP depression with March marking a 7th consecutive year-on-year decline at -12.1% to 21.491 units, pulling the year-to-date tally down -12.2% to 59.616. However 5 of the Top 6 brands fare better than the market this month, including homegrown leader Skoda (-7.3%) at 33.3% share meaning exactly 1 in 3 new vehicles registered in the Czech Republic in March was a Skoda. Volkswagen (-13.5%) falls slightly faster but remains #2 at 8.8% share, distancing Hyundai (-9.3%) and Dacia (-1.7%) while both Peugeot (+4.4%) and Renault (+14.9%) shine with year-on-year gain at the tail end of the Top 6. Seat (-1.3%) also resists well at #10 but the remainder of the Top 10 is in hell: Ford (-47.4%), Kia (-29.4%) and Toyota (-17.8%) all freefall. Jaguar (+183.3%), Mitsubishi (+65.6%), Jeep (+45.7%), Volvo (+36.4%), Fiat (+25.8%), Mazda (+12.3%), Honda (+7.3%) and Audi (+6.2%) all shine in the Top 30.

Model-wise, the Skoda Fabia (-6.5%) holds tight intro the top spot but still can’t overtake the Octavia (-31.6%) in the YTD order. At #3, the Skoda Rapid (+6.9%) doesn’t seem to be affected by its imminent discontinuation, while the Skoda Karoq (+7.5%) posts another solid score at a record 4th place ahead of the Hyundai i30 (+25.9%) and Dacia Duster (-1.7%), the most popular foreigners. Below the Skoda Kodiaq (-0.8%) and VW Tiguan (+0.8%) both very sturdy, the event of the month is the arrival of the more upmarket Skoda Scala directly at a beautiful 10th place with 1.7% share. It will be fascinating the follow the progression of this new nameplate that is aimed at the likes of the Kia Cee’d (-28.2%) and VW Golf (-39.4%) coincidentally (?) both in great difficulty this month, but will undoubtedly steal some thunder from the Fabia and possibly the Octavia, potentially wreaking havoc atop the charts… We’ll have a better idea of its true potential in the coming months.

Previous month: Czech Republic February 2019: Skoda Fabia leads, Peugeot (+35.8%) shines in 6th consecutive market decline

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

Full March 2019 Top 45 All-brands and Top 275 All-models below.