Czech market in June 2020: The best month of this year, Škoda grew by 16%

Sales of new cars on the Czech market in the first half of the year were strongly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. But the June results promise a return to normal.

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During June 2020, 20,771 new cars were registered on the Czech market, which was 5.2% less than a year ago. The situation thus seems to be returning to normal, before the coronavirus pandemic. In April and May, registrations fell by 53.4%, and 44.4% respectively. This follows from the statistics of the Association of Car Importers.

As a result, May was the best month of this year in terms of the number of registrations. So far it has been such a month January with 19,132 registered cars. Since February, ie even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in our country and related measures, the number of registered cars began to decrease, growing again from May. On the other hand, so far it is only a short growth, in order to estimate whether it will continue to last.

A decent result in May was ensured mainly by the domestic Škoda. It has 8,456 registrations in May, 16.1% more than a year ago, giving it a 40.7% market share. Others were far from enough for such a result this time – the second Hyundai lost 20.8% year-on-year, the third Volkswagen by 15.1% and the fourth Dacia by 21%.

Renault finished fifth this time, which, like Škoda, grew year-on-year; the resulting 998 registrations were 10.2% more than a year ago. Of the top 10 brands, Mercedes-Benz, the ninth overall, also helped, with 635 registered cars 21% more than last May.

It was also a successful month for Mitsubishi. Three diamonds occupied the sixteenth place with 252 registrations, recording a year-on-year jump of 26.6%. The eighteenth Volvo jumped similarly (+ 23.6%).

On the other hand, such a tenth Ford fell by 38.8% year on year in May, and the nineteenth Mazda even by 44.6%. With only 70 registered cars, Fiat is not even in the top 20 (up to 24th place overall), similarly to Nissan (82 registrations, 21st place).

The results after the first half of the year fully show the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, or the consequences of closed showrooms and offices. The resulting 95,029 registrations are 26.1% less than in the first six months of last year.

Even in this case, Škoda remains the highest, with 36,551 registrations, a year-on-year decrease of 17.1%. Hyundai is second with 7,999 registered cars, which was 6.6% less than a year ago. The lower year-on-year decline is due to the worse results of the Korean brand at the beginning of 2019. By the way, the third Volkswagen fell by 28.9% in the first half of this year.

As for the ranking of the best-selling models, the Škoda Octavia retained the highest position. With 10,410 units, it was the only one to exceed the target of 10,000 registrations, but it deteriorated by 11.4% year-on-year due to coronavirus and intergenerational changes. The second is followed by the Škoda Fabia, whose year-on-year fall of 23.9% may be related to the arrival of the Škoda Kamiq crossover. It is already the fifth best-selling car in the Czech Republic.

Only the sixth overall Hyundai i30 with 3,374 registrations (+ 3.5%) was among the Škoda cars, followed by the Hyundai Tucson (+ 25.8%). In the top 10 models for the first half of 2020, in addition to the Škoda and Hyundai, there is only one representative – the ninth overall Kia Ceed. Despite the declines, there are three Dacia models in the top ten, while Volkswagen Golf did not make it into the top 20 models due to problems with the start of the new generation.

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