Czech Republic March 2021: Ford (+203.6%), Seat (+126.7%) stand out again in market up 46.5% on low year-ago volumes

Seat Arona sales are up 3-fold year-on-year in March.

New car sales in the Czech Republic rally back up 46.5% year-on-year to 20.053 units on Covid-impacted year-ago volumes, leading to a year-to-date tally now down -1.3% to 49.534. Homegrown brand leader Skoda (+36.4%) can’t quite match the market growth but posts a very solid 36.5% share vs. 36.1% so far this year. However the following five brands all outpace the market, with Ford (+203.6%) and Mercedes (+89.5%) the most dynamic followed by Hyundai (+69.8%), Volkswagen (+54.5%) and Toyota (+50.6%). At the other end of the scale, Dacia (-11.7%) is the only Top 10 brand losing ground while Kia (+24.1%) and Peugeot (+31.2%) underperform and Seat (+126.7%) shines at #9 vs. #13 over the Full Year 2020. Further down, Ssangyong (+716.7%), Nissan (+402.6%), Opel (+99%), Audi (+86.3%) and Mazda (+83.6%) impress and Cupra leaps up 7 spots on last month to #30.

Model-wise, the Skoda Octavia (-19.2%) reclaims the top spot off the Skoda Fabia (+28.4%) despite a heavy year-on-year loss while the Skoda Karoq (+123.4%) leaps up one spot to #3 overall, its record ranking at home also hit in June 2019, March and April 2020. The Hyundai i30 (+149.9%) posts a fantastic gain to finish the month at #4, the only non-Skoda in the Top 8. All remaining Top 10 models beat the market, with the VW Golf (+194.4%) the most impressive followed by the Skoda Kamiq (+84.5%), Scala (+81.3%), Hyundai Tucson (+72.5%), Skoda Superb (+67.7%) and Kodiaq (+60.5%). The Ford Puma (+807.7%), Nissan Qashqai (+608.3%), Seat Arona (+231.6%) and VW T-Cross (+201.7%) all score surreal gains further down. Among recent launches, the Skoda Enyaq is up 105 spots on February to #70 while the VW ID.4 lands at #110.

Previous month: Czech Republic February 2021: Ford, Seat shine in market down -15.5%

One year ago: Czech Republic March 2020: Skoda Kamiq up to record #4 in market down -36.3% to lowest March in 11 years

Full March 2021 Top 48 All-brands and Top 257 All-models below.