Skoda is on the road without fat pads
The Czech Volkswagen subsidiary is bucking the current market trend with excellent figures - and CEO Klaus Zellmert is confident that this will continue.
Skoda is currently doing very well. While VW is suffering from the transformation, the Czech subsidiary is delivering top figures: 30.1 billion euros (+8.3 %) record turnover last year, 2.5 billion (+8.6 %) operating profit, 1,043,900 vehicles delivered worldwide (+12.7 %), exceeding the million mark for the first time in six years. Skoda is in third place in Europe and fourth place for electric cars. And with the small car Epiq and the up to seven-seater Peaq, Skoda is even going one better in 2026.
«These figures make us extremely proud,» says Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer. «And we don't want to be in first place, because that's where Volkswagen is,» he adds. «It will also be important in the future that we manage our portfolio properly, differentiate ourselves so well from one another and don't make life difficult for ourselves as a VW family.» The Skoda boss is happy about sales in the growth market of India: «We could double our sales here. It also helps that we are not present in America, have already withdrawn from Russia and are in the phase-out phase in China. Our brand has already compensated for these declines in sales,» explains Zellmer.
«We work very hard and stringently at Skoda - like athletes. And work off any fat deposits. We want to be good and efficient not only this year, but also in the future,» explains Zellmer. «Flexibility in production helps us here, thanks to which we can react very well to changing market requirements.» This is why, for example, the electric version of the new Karoq, which will be based on the Kodiaq platform in 2028, could easily be pushed back and thus respond to current demand. He adds: «At Skoda, we remain modest but hungry and want to achieve a ten percent return on investment by 2030, which is what our fitness program is geared towards.» In addition, the company is hardly losing any market share to the Chinese competition, «in Europe, we are helped above all by the dedicated Skoda dealers who are doing a good job,» concludes Klaus Zellmer.
