Czech Republic October 2020: VW Golf up 183.3% to #5 in market back in hell (-15.5%)

The VW Golf is back with a vengeance in the Czech Republic.

As a second wave of coronavirus infections and related restrictions engulfs the country, new car sales in the Czech Republic drop -15.5% year-on-year to 16.835 units in October, leading to a year-to-date tally off -21.7% to 165.154. Local behemoth Skoda (-23.7%) loses a lot more ground than the market and sees its share thin to 36.2% vs. 38% so far this year. Volkswagen (+3.5%) goes completely against the grain and overtakes Hyundai (-23.9%) to rank #2 overall for the month. In fact Dacia (+38.5%) and Toyota (+11.6%) do even better with double-digit gains in the remainder of the Top 10 while Renault (+1.3%) also manages an uptick.

Over in the models ranking, the Skoda Octavia (-29.8%) and Fabia (-22.3%) manage to remain atop the charts despite both taking harsh hits, while the Skoda Scala (-9.5%) is back on the third step of the podium it holds year-to-date. The Karoq (-21.9%) makes it 4 Skodas in the Top 4 but it’s the VW Golf (+183.3%) that steals the spotlight this month, up almost 3-fold year-on-year and 8 spots on last month to #5, the nameplate’s first appearance in the Czech Top 10 since February 2019 and its highest ranking since January 2018. The Renault Clio (+166.5%), VW Passat (+76.5%), Peugeot Rifter (+67.3%), Skoda Kamiq (+56.9%), Toyota Yaris (+51.9%) and Dacia Duster (+51.6%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 20.

Previous month: Czech Republic September 2020: Skoda has 6 models in Top 6, Kamiq on podium, first sales uptick this year (+7.2%)

One year ago: Czech Republic October 2019: Skoda Scala breaks volume and share records

Full October 2020 Top 53 All-brands and Top 245 All-models below.