Sales of new passenger cars down 7% at 12,071 units in Jan

Prague, Feb 5 (CTK) - Czech sales of new passenger cars dropped by almost 7 percent in annual terms to 12,071 units in January and the top-selling Skoda Auto sold 3,655 cars, a decrease of 14 percent, according to data of the Car Importers Association.

Skoda Auto registered fall in sales of all its models. The biggest drop of 27 percent to 1,640 units was seen for the second-generation Octavia whose production ends.

Sale of the smaller model Rapid, launched last year, made up a quarter of Octavia's sales.

Volkswagen ranked second, its sales growing by 13 percent to 1,279 cars.

Hyundai's sale increased by almost 15 percent to 1,128 units, followed by Citroen and Renault.

Among the top ten car brands, seven registered a drop last year.

Citroen, in contrast, reported a 94 percent rise of sales to 651 cars.

Sales of light utility vehicles decreased by more than a quarter to 697 units. Ford was the best-selling brand, trailed by Renault and Volkswagen.

Lorry sales were 13 percent higher at 625 units. Deferred demand from the previous periods influenced sales in the segment, said the association's secretary Pavel Tunkl. Mercedes was the best-selling brand. DAF and Iveco followed.

Bus sales grew by more than a half to 70 units.

Demand for motorcycles continued falling. A total of 434 units were sold, an annual drop of 23 percent. Kymco ranked first, followed by Bombardier and TGB.

New car sales rose by 0.4 percent to 174,009 units last year.