Škoda announces it has sold 1.5 million cars in China since it started sales in the country

ŠKODA has achieved another milestone in China: since entering the market in 2007, the Czech car manufacturer has delivered 1.5 million vehicles to customers in the Chinese market. Over the coming years, ŠKODA plans to increase sales to over half a million cars per year in their strongest market worldwide. The new ŠKODA Superb heralds the dawn of a new era for the brand in China.

​Delivering 1.5 million vehicles since 2007 is evidence of ŠKODA’s successful development in China. The manufacturer seeks to grow further over the coming years by introducing new models. The recently launched ŠKODA Fabia and eagerly awaited ŠKODA Superb are set to be key players in this.  The company's aim is to increase the public's awareness of the brand in China, and inspire customers with highly dynamic, modern and emotionally appealing designs.

ŠKODA models have been available on the Chinese market since 2007. Since then, the brand has increased annual sales to 281,400 deliveries most recently in 2014. This represents almost one quarter of ŠKODA’s total sales last year. In the first half of 2015, ŠKODA delivered 138,300 vehicles in the Chinese market – an increase of 5.8% over the same period last year. China has been ŠKODA’s largest individual market since 2010. The manufacturer is building on their close partnership with the Volkswagen Group China and the local partner Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW).

As part of the company’s international growth strategy, the brand has been steadily broadening their range of models available in China over recent years. In 2014, ŠKODA’s product range in China increased to six locally produced model series. ŠKODA’s model range in China includes the Fabia, Rapid, Rapid Spaceback, Octavia, Yeti and Superb. 

2015 marks a highlight in ŠKODA’s current model campaign. The new generation Fabia and Superb herald the dawn of a new era for ŠKODA in China, bringing a new phase of growth. The latest generation of the ŠKODA Fabia has been available since April. This was the first series-produced model from ŠKODA to demonstrate the development of the brand’s new, expressive and modern design language. The new ŠKODA Superb will be taking a further step into the future with its release on the Chinese market in autumn. 

ŠKODA’s new flagship is produced for the Chinese market at the SVW plant in Ningbo, southern China. The other SVW locations that also produce ŠKODA models for the Chinese market are Anting and Yizheng. 

4G data connection extends to the Audi A3 range for swift and seamless web surfing

• Functionality debuts in the new Audi S3 Sportback
• Full A3 family integration from November
• WLAN hotspot enables independent connections capable of video conferencing and high-speed streaming

Audi connect in-car internet access has just received a turbo boost as the Vorsprung durch Technik brand becomes the first carmaker to fully integrate the superfast 4G/Long Term Evolution data transfer standard into a production car.

The new fourth generation or ‘4G’ technology has just become available in the Audi S3 Sportback, and will reach all other variants in the premium compact range in November. The integration of 4G/LTE marks a very important step in the evolution of the Audi connect system, which networks the car with the driver and the Internet, and in the future could also provide an interface with the infrastructure and with other vehicles.

4G/LTE considerably broadens the scope of what is possible with in-car ‘infotainment’. This most advanced of mobile communication standards is currently available on a relatively small scale in the UK, but is scheduled for a wider roll-out during 2013. It enables the transfer of large amounts of data, such as music and films in HD quality, via the Internet.

In the Audi S3 Sportback, the MMI navigation plus uses 4G/LTE to deliver the many services of Audi connect to the driver – from navigation with Google Earth and Google Street View to Audi music stream web radio and online traffic information. Facebook and Twitter social media platforms have also been made vehicle-friendly with a text-to-speech function and a status function with prepared text modules. The ever expanding list of features also includes a fuel station locator which incorporates distance and pricing information, and a local parking availability and pricing function.

To use LTE, MMI Navigation Plus with Audi connect is required – available as part of the Technology package – and a suitable SIM card with a data flat rate simply needs to be inserted into the appropriate slot in the glovebox of the Audi S3 Sportback. When the passengers connect their mobile end devices to the WLAN hotspot integrated into the car, they can surf the web independently of one another. For example, one passenger can participate in a video conference while another watches a video.

LTE technology can be ordered for the Audi S3 Sportback now, and for all other variants of the A3 family from November. Audi connect is the keyword for the brand's intensive efforts to continuously develop new networking solutions. New technologies are increasingly making cars with the four rings more of an experiential space. The LTE standard is expected to provide a strong boost to the seamless use of media stored on a server on the Internet (data in the cloud). Audi is also a major driving force behind the networking with other automobiles and the transport infrastructure (car-to-X-communication).