Sales of new passenger cars increased by 21.5 percent year-on-year to 90,244 vehicles from January to the end of May. But it was still a tenth less than in 2019. In May, sales increased by 62 percent compared to last year. The Association of Car Importers announced this today.
The first is the Škoda brand with 32,020 registered passenger cars and a share of 35.5 percent. They are followed by Volkswagen with sales of 8,613 cars and Hyundai, which sold 7,874 cars. Other places are Mercedes Benz and Toyota.
The best-selling passenger cars are the Škoda Octavia (6605 cars), the Škoda Fabia (6367), the Škoda Karoq (4759), the Škoda Kamiq and the Hyundai i30. Over 41 percent were SUVs, and the share of gasoline cars was almost 66 percent.
“May sales started in a big form. The first two weeks brought Škoda sales twice as much as last year. In the second half, the growth rate slowed down a bit, but we still achieved the best result this year, almost 7,500 cars sold per month. It was the strongest period last year, but I know there is a big risk this year because the obstacles posed by the weakened supply chain pandemics are great. Škoda Auto in the Czech Republic Jiří Maláček.
Sales of electric cars increased significantly by 135 percent year-on-year in May, but are still 14 percent lower year-on-year in five months. The share of company cars in total registrations is 79 percent.
According to EY automotive expert Petr Knap, a similar year-on-year improvement cannot be expected in June, when last year’s sales were much more similar in 2019. “For comparison, last year’s registrations were 55 percent higher than last year’s May. “It is clear that part of the demand, especially of households, has shifted to used cars. However, I expect that the high growth in the category of hybrid cars will be maintained,” he said. He estimates full-year growth at ten percent.
However, traders expect sales to continue to grow. Toyota, for example, concluded a record 1,626 customer orders in May, according to a press release, which will be reflected in registrations in the coming months. “The results are significantly affected by the deferred customer demand due to coronavirus from last year and the beginning of this year, when the operation of showrooms and services was limited,” added Martin Peleška, CEO of Toyota CR.
Sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 27.7 percent to 7,554 vehicles. In May, it increased by 46 percent. The first is the Fiat brand with 957 registered cars (12.67%), followed by Peugeot, which sold 50 cars less, and Volkswagen, which sold 853 cars. 91 percent of cars sold were diesel.
Overall, truck registrations increased by 37 percent year-on-year to 3,655 cars. In May, they increased by 123 percent year on year. The first is the Mercedes-Benz brand with 670 registered cars, followed by DAF, MAN and Scania.
By the end of May this year, bus sales had fallen by 4.6 percent to 538 vehicles. In the fifth month alone, the decline was 81 percent. The first is the domestic SOR brand with 210 registered buses, the second is also the Czech Iveco Bus, which sold three less buses, and the third was Setra.
The motorcycle category recorded a year-on-year increase of 16.5 percent to 9,413 machines sold. In May, sales increased by 2.5 percent year on year. The first is Honda with 1578 registered motorcycles, followed by Yamaha, CF Moto, BMW and KTM.