Skoda to expand auto production in China
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-22 11:37
Czech automaker Skoda said Wednesday it plans to expand future production in
China to three model ranges from the currently planned one in a bid to build
market share in the fast-growing Chinese market.
The company, a
unit of Germany's Volkswagen AG, said in news release that production of the
Octavia will begin next year, with the Favia and Superb model ranges to
follow.
The broadened product line will "reinforce the expansion of the brand Skoda
to the Chinese market," the company said.
All three models will be made at Volkswagen's sprawling Shanghai joint
venture plant, where a team from Skoda is already on site readying for
production, Skoda said. All vehicles made there are intended for the Chinese
domestic market, it said.
The move "shows we see China as one of the strategic markets for the brand's
future growth," Skoda Auto AS chairman Detlef Wittig was quoted as saying in the
news release.
Skoda's growth strategy also includes assembly and other manufacturing
projects in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Bosnia, and India.
In China, the company is entering a fast-growing but increasingly competitive
auto market which is about to pass Japan as the world's second-largest.
General Motors Corp., was the top foreign automaker in China last year, with
11 percent of the market and 665,390 units sold, followed by
Volkswagen.
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