While Volkswagen both announces factory closures and layoffs in Germany, the group's Czech brand Skoda is surging ahead and is now more popular than Audi.
The Czech car brand Skoda is now more popular than Audi in Germany's car market, which is the largest in Europe.
Skoda has seen a significant increase in the number of registered cars, while Audi, which is also part of the VW group, is struggling with decline.
This has resulted in a change in the hierarchy within the group: Skoda is now the second most popular car brand after Volkswagen, while Audi has dropped to third place.
Audi's problems are clearly reflected in the latest settlement of new registrations in Germany. From January to October 2024, Audi has experienced a decrease of 17.9 percent compared to the same period last year.
In the rest of Europe, the decline is smaller but still significant at 4.6 percent. In comparison, Skoda has had an increase of almost 25 percent in Germany and 7.6 percent in the rest of Europe. This places Skoda in a stronger position within the group. While Audi faces challenges in regaining lost market share.
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For VW as a whole, 2024 has been a challenging year. Although brands such as Seat/Cupra and Porsche have had positive results, the group's overall profits have fallen significantly.
Audi's weak performance in Europe and China in particular has dragged down, although registrations across the group's brands have overall been slightly increasing in the same areas.
If you look at the development in just a slightly longer perspective, it is clear that car sales are still not on par with the time of the corona pandemic.
According to Automobilwoche, the VW group sells almost 425,000 fewer cars than five years ago. This large drop shows that although individual brands such as Skoda have prospered, the car industry as a whole is in a worse place today.
Audi is now in a difficult situation, where the brand must regain its position in the market. Skoda's rise is an example of how consumer preferences in Germany have changed, which also affects competition within the VW group.
Officially, however, Audi is still at the top of the foot chain at the Volkswagen Group. The internal ranking looks as follows (from bottom to top): Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, Cupra and Audi.
If you look at the Danish sales figures, both Audi and Skoda are in the heat. In fact, both brands rank in the top 10 when it comes to new registrations. However, the brand from Ingolstadt is still the most popular here. However, Skoda is just behind.
