Skoda might exit China amid intense competitors from native manufacturers on this planet’s greatest market.

“We are going to look along with our Chinese language three way partnership companion at how we need to proceed there,” Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer instructed Automotive Information Europe sister publication Automobilwoche.

Skoda’s withdrawal from China would enable father or mother Volkswagen Group to pay attention its efforts within the nation on its principal VW model, which is struggling within the face of home competitors.

As a substitute of fully pulling out of China, Skoda may additionally think about solely promoting imported vehicles. Skoda’s Chinese language fashions are cuurently inbuilt VW Group three way partnership factories. “If we need to focus our efforts, it is value trying on the eventualities after which deciding,” Zellmer mentioned.

Skoda had a 0.6 % market share in China in 2021. The model’s Chinese language deliveries had been down 31 % to 36,300 autos within the first three quarters, in line with its monetary report. Its international deliveries fell 22 % to 544,500 throughout the identical interval.

Leaving China would assist the model to focus extra on India, for which it has accountability inside the VW Group.

Skoda additionally mentioned in October that it plans to begin promoting and constructing vehicles in Vietnam, the place it says there may be “appreciable progress potential.”

The model sees an annual gross sales potential of as much as 40,000 autos in Vietnam, together with vehicles constructed from fully knocked down kits at a neighborhood manufacturing unit on account of open in 2024.

Skoda can be chargeable for VW Group’s Russian enterprise, which got here to a standstill after Russia’s invastion of Ukraine.

VW Group mentioned in an announcement to Reuters that it was regular enterprise process for Skoda to constantly be checking its place in worldwide markets and adapt that to native developments.

“There have been no choices up to now on potential modifications in our technique,” the corporate mentioned.