After 7 years Skoda increases production of the Yeti to meet unprecedented demand, not bad for a 7 year old car.

• ŠKODA increases capacity for Yeti production due to high demand
• Since the start of production in 2009, over 580,000 Yetis sold worldwide
• UK accounts for over 10 percent of global sales
• 2015 was a best-ever year for Yeti with over 13,000 registered in the UK

The recent world premiere of the new Kodiaq SUV may signal the start of ŠKODA’s broader SUV campaign, but the ŠKODA Yeti – the brand’s first SUV – is enjoying a rise in popularity. Now in its seventh production year, debuting in 2009, the ŠKODA Yeti has been one of the most successful compact SUVs ever.

In total, ŠKODA has delivered more than 580,000 Yetis to customers worldwide, and due to continued high demand is expanding capacity for production. In the UK, ŠKODA has seen the Yeti’s popularity continue to rise, with nearly 60,000 registrations since its 2010 market introduction. In 2015 it had its best-ever year, with 13,306 examples being snapped up by UK customers.

“We are delighted to be able to deliver as many ŠKODA Yetis to our customers in Europe as they wish,” says Michael Oeljeklaus, ŠKODA Board Member for Production and Logistics. “By using the production capacities of another European plant within our international production network, we can respond satisfactorily to the high demand.”

The compact SUV is currently produced at four plants: In addition to Kvasiny in ŠKODA’s home country the Czech Republic, the model is manufactured at Solomonovo (Ukraine), Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia), Öskemen / Ust Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan) and Anting (China). In order to meet the high demand for the Yeti models in Europe, ŠKODA is utilizing the additional production capacities at the Nizhniy Novgorod plant. The ŠKODA Yeti has been produced here since 2012 alongside the ŠKODA Octavia. Production in Nizhny Novgorod is carried out in partnership with the Volkswagen Group Russia and the Russian automobile manufacturer GAZ Group.

ŠKODA entered the compact-SUV segment with the Yeti in 2009. In Europe, the award-winning ŠKODA Yeti is one of the best-selling SUVs in its class and underlines the all-wheel-drive competence of the brand.

More than 580,000 ŠKODA Yetis have been sold to customers around the world to date. In 2015 alone, ŠKODA delivered around 99,500 Yeti models. Between January and August 2016, approximately 61,700 customers worldwide opted for a Yeti, with over 14 percent of those allocated to UK customers. 

Skoda to extend production number for Fabia and Rapid amid growth in both models.

ŠKODA’s new models are doing exceptionally well. In 2014 the Czech carmaker sold more than one million vehicles for the first time in a single year.  Accordingly, ŠKODA production is now shifting up a gear: At the main plant in Mladá Boleslav, ŠKODA has recently upped the manufacturing capacities for the new ŠKODA Fabia and Fabia Combi (estate), as well as the ŠKODA Rapid Spaceback.  Up to 1200 of these models now run off the MBII production line every day in three shifts. Previously, a maximum of 800 vehicles could be produced on a daily basis in two shifts. ŠKODA has created an additional 800 new jobs to staff the third shift.

​“The young ŠKODA model range is doing exceptionally well on the market,” says ŠKODA Michael Oeljeklaus, ŠKODA Production Director. “Our production is at full throttle – especially at our main plant in Mladá Boleslav. Over the coming years, ŠKODA plans to increase sales to at least 1.5 million per year. To this end, we will continue to invest in our domestic and international production capacities.” 

The current expansion in production capacities at the MBII line in Mladá Boleslav were necessary due to the growing success of the Fabia and Rapid Spaceback. ŠKODA had begun expanding and technologically upgrading key areas of the Fabia production halls in Mladá Boleslav as early as summer 2014.   This was when the new, ultra-modern facility was finished, enabling the new assistance systems to be configured. The paint shop was also extended and partially redeveloped. 

ŠKODA operates two production lines in Mladá Boleslav: The Fabia, Fabia Combi (estate) and Rapid Spaceback are manufactured on the MBII line; the Octavia, Octavia Combi (estate) and Rapid saloon run off the other line.  The production capacity currently stands at 1200 cars per day.

By expanding their production capacities at the main plant in Mladá Boleslav, the Czech manufacturer is once again demonstrating their importance as an employer and major industrial investor in the Czech Republic. Since 1991, ŠKODA has invested more than 280 billion Czech Crowns into the manufacturing processes and factories at the locations of Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí. In 2014, the respective investments totalled 362 million euros. Last autumn, ŠKODA and the Volkswagen Group invested 45 million euros alone in the newly opened ŠKODA Engine Centre – one of the largest industrial investments of recent years in the Czech Republic.

The Fabia’s market launch was extremely successful. The small car is setting standards in its segment, and has won a number of international awards; in the Czech Republic, the new ŠKODA Fabia was voted ‘Car of the year 2015’. In the UK, the model received the renowned title ‘What Car? Car of the Year 2015’. The ŠKODA Rapid Spaceback has also taken the consumer market by storm.  In 2014 sales of the Rapid Spaceback increased nine fold over the previous year, with a total of 72,000 sold around the world (2013: 8000). The brand’s first compact hatchback model offers fresh-dynamic designs, lots of room, a host of ‘Simply Clever’ ideas, the highest safety, low fuel consumption and is great value for money.

USA - Porsche to increase availability of the Macan to teh US to meet huge demand.

Porsche is working to increase supplies of the new Macan midsize crossover to U.S. dealers in 2015.

“We’re certainly pushing because it’s been a big success,” Joe Lawrence, chief operating officer of Porsche Cars North America, said after the Porsche officials met with U.S. dealers here on Sunday. “We’re having some issues with customers having to wait longer than we would like, and we don’t want to lose those customers.”

Wait times for Macan buyers have been six months or more since it went on sale last May. U.S. dealers are looking forward to getting more Macans this year and getting them into the hands of buyers more quickly. A diesel-powered Macan is also expected near the end of the year.

“We’re going to expand that Macan number,” said Mike Sullivan, owner of Pacific Porsche in Torrance, California, and a member of the Porsche Dealer Board of Regents in the U.S. “It’s pretty exciting. We were so limited.”

Lawrence declined to estimate the number of Macans that will be allocated to the U.S. market in 2015. Porsche sold 7,241 Macans during the seven months it was on sale last year.

Though Porsche’s U.S. executives are pushing for higher allocation of the Macan, it’s not confirmed, Lawrence said.

“We would be happy to get more,” he said. “But the factory [in Leipzig, Germany] is constrained, and the worldwide demand is so strong on that car.”

Still, a full year of Macan sales is expected to put Porsche over its goal of selling 50,000 vehicles in the U.S., three years earlier than the 2018 deadline originally set by the automaker. Porsche sold 47,007 vehicles in the U.S. in 2014, an 11 percent annual increase. The overall U.S. market rose 6 percent.

“Our target clearly is to exceed 50,000 this year,” Lawrence said. “We believe we’ll have the production and the right mix to be able to do that. A full year of Macan obviously helps that situation and makes it possible.”

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Amy Wilson

Toyota to increase Mirai fuel cell car production, comes with free eye test :-)

Toyota announced today it is to increase production of its Mirai fuel cell car. The hydrogen-powered saloon was launched in Japan on 15 December last year and will be introduced in the UK and other selected European markets during 2015.

The new plan calls for production to increase from 700 units this year to approximately 2,000 in 2016 and around 3,000 in 2017.

Toyota decided the supply structure should be adjusted to reflect the level of demand for the vehicle, in view of around 1,500 orders being received in the first month of sales in Japan and the prospect of the model being launched in Europe and the USA later this year.

Following the production increases, sales plans for Japan, the US and Europe will be formulated, taking into consideration the level of hydrogen infrastructure development, energy policies, car purchasing subsidies, consumer demand, environmental regulations and other factors in each region.

BMW may have to increase production of its i8 sports car to meet increased demand.

BMW may have to increase production of its i8 plug-in hybrid sports car to meet high demand.

The waiting time for the 120,000 euro coupe is up to 18 months, BMW sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson said.

"We need to find ways to increase i8 production because the waiting lists in some markets are getting too long,” Robertson told Automotive News Europe at the auto show here on Wednesday.

Robertson said six months is as long as customers should have to wait for a built-to-order premium model.

The i8 is produced at BMW's factory in Leipzig, Germany. The car went on sale in Europe in June and in the U.S. in August.

Robertson declined to elaborate on current production levels of the i8, as well as on any potential output increase. He said BMW planned the i8 as a low-volume model with annual sales in the low single digit thousands.

So far this year BMW delivered to 760 i8 cars to customers including 419 in October.

IHS Automotive forecasts that BMW will build 3,238 units of the i8 this year, increasing to 4,318 next year.

i3, i5

Robertson said waiting time for the i3 battery-powered compact hatchback, which is also built in Leipzig, is stabilizing at about four to five months.

“We are now delivering about 2,000 units of the i3 a month,” he said. Through October, BMW delivered 12,184 units of the i3 worldwide, including 1,985 in October.

Asked whether BMW will launch a fuel call car called the i5, as media reports have suggested, Robertson said he was not aware of such plans. BMW is discussing how its 'i' range will evolve but no decisions have been made, he said.

Luca Ciferri

REPORT HERE