Well today the SMMT released the UK car sales figures for September. Instead of downloading the zip file from te SMMT page just look at the detail at the bottom of this page.

Looking at that I think I finally twigged why you see so few Yetis. Of the UK market sales Skoda has only 1,63% of the market. That is tiny. So for every 1000 cars that will pass you 138 will be Fords, 126 will be Vauxhals, 73 will be Volkswagens, 47 will be Audis, 55 will be BMWs, 43 will be Mercs, 47 Nissans, 54 Pugs, 42 Renaults, 38 Citroëns and 43 Toyotas. The rest is spread about with a few each. But at roughly the same amount each you'll also see about 16 SEATs, Land Rovers, Volvos and Skodas each. And of those 16 Skodas you will of course see the whole mix of models. What that mix is I don't know but I'd guess 5 Fabias, 5 Octavias, 1 Roomster, three Superbs and two Yetis (if that)? Out of every thousand cars!!! Now I know these numbers only for this past September but I'd wager it is about right for your typical 1000 cars out there too.

Does it bother me? Not in the least. It just made me realise even more that Skoda is for the informed few and I'm going to be very, very happy driving such a scarce car!

Well today the SMMT released the UK car sales figures for September. Instead of downloading the zip file from te SMMT page just look at the detail at the bottom of this page.

Looking at that I think I finally twigged why you see so few Yetis. Of the UK market sales Skoda has only 1,63% of the market. That is tiny. So for every 1000 cars that will pass you 138 will be Fords, 126 will be Vauxhals, 73 will be Volkswagens, 47 will be Audis, 55 will be BMWs, 43 will be Mercs, 47 Nissans, 54 Pugs, 42 Renaults, 38 Citroëns and 43 Toyotas. The rest is spread about with a few each. But at roughly the same amount each you'll also see about 16 SEATs, Land Rovers, Volvos and Skodas each. And of those 16 Skodas you will of course see the whole mix of models. What that mix is I don't know but I'd guess 5 Fabias, 5 Octavias, 1 Roomster, three Superbs and two Yetis (if that)? Out of every thousand cars!!! Now I know these numbers only for this past September but I'd wager it is about right for your typical 1000 cars out there too.

Does it bother me? Not in the least. It just made me realise even more that Skoda is for the informed few and I'm going to be very, very happy driving such a scarce car!

The only Yeti or Yetis (what's the plural?) I've seen have been at the dealers. Yet(nearly a pun) to see one on the road - must get out more.

What I would never have guessed is that Kia would form nearly 25 of those 1000 cars... That is 8257 cars sold last month vs Skoda's 5463. Hmmm Food for thought Skoda.

I must admit that 7 year warranty is a big selling point.

Mike

Just seen my 4th Yeti in about 3 months of looking,a black one,looked real nice.Then saw a black Kia soul.Side on I was amazed at how similar it looked to the Yeti....

One thing the chart shows is that car sales are showing a definite dip as people start to worry about the future. This time last year we had the scrappage scheme and ignoring all the pros and cons, it did boost sales quite significantly.

Even though Skoda show a reduction, they're not as bad as many others and their year to date figure is quite strong. On my 60 mile round trip commute I am seeing more and more Yetis. At least 2 or 3 a day now. If Skoda were able to produce regionalised figures, I think my area would show that they are much more popular around here than the national average. And everyone thinks we drive white XR3 cabrios to Lakeside shopping centre or the local 'nail bar'. .

As to the future, it depends how much George clobbers us all in a fortnight. :'(

Only seen three Yetis here in Norfolk, but loads of Skodas in general, two very good dealers here may help, certainly does not seem to be a minority car in this part of the world

Well today the SMMT released the UK car sales figures for September. Instead of downloading the zip file from te SMMT page just look at the detail at the bottom of this page.

Looking at that I think I finally twigged why you see so few Yetis. Of the UK market sales Skoda has only 1,63% of the market. That is tiny. So for every 1000 cars that will pass you 138 will be Fords, 126 will be Vauxhals, 73 will be Volkswagens, 47 will be Audis, 55 will be BMWs, 43 will be Mercs, 47 Nissans, 54 Pugs, 42 Renaults, 38 Citroëns and 43 Toyotas. The rest is spread about with a few each. But at roughly the same amount each you'll also see about 16 SEATs, Land Rovers, Volvos and Skodas each. And of those 16 Skodas you will of course see the whole mix of models. What that mix is I don't know but I'd guess 5 Fabias, 5 Octavias, 1 Roomster, three Superbs and two Yetis (if that)? Out of every thousand cars!!! Now I know these numbers only for this past September but I'd wager it is about right for your typical 1000 cars out there too.

Does it bother me? Not in the least. It just made me realise even more that Skoda is for the informed few and I'm going to be very, very happy driving such a scarce car!

... although year-to-date sales are around 2% of market share, similar to Mini - it certainly doesn't feel like that around here!

Skoda sales are also 10 times those of Subaru. Lies, damned lies etc. etc.

Edited 7 October, 201015 yr by yellowyeller

Well there should be another one in a couple of weeks time when mine becomes available for pickup

Then again if I get sacked as a result of the cuts announced on the 20th it could be the shortest period I have ever owned a car :S

Still only seen 6 Yetis on the road and quite frankly I prefer it that way.

Long delivery times???

What I would never have guessed is that Kia would form nearly 25 of those 1000 cars... That is 8257 cars sold last month vs Skoda's 5463. Hmmm Food for thought Skoda.

I looked very closely at the new Sportage before plumping for the Yeti. KIA are no longer a budget brand - they are leading with their 'First Edition' Sportage model which is competitive at £20777 but you cannot buy that any longer. You will have to order the mainstream models which top out at over £26000 before the VAT increase! And no chance of a discount for quite some time. Despite the additional 4 year warranty (which some say is not as good as it sounds) I actually felt that the Skoda was overall better value given the discounts available. As near as I could get like for like the Yeti cost me approx £2700 less than a similarly equipped Sportage (in fact the Yeti is 170bhp whereas the Sportage is 136 bhp). I suspect KIA will take a hit from their traditional customers who want value for money until a new set of customers twig that they are actually well built cars (now). There doesn't really appear to be any 'budget' brands around any longer.

There doesn't really appear to be any 'budget' brands around any longer.

That is until Renault launches Dacia in the UK. The Logan and Sandero has long been decent inexpensive robust vehicles in other countries. And after poking around their new Duster 4x4 at the Paris Motor Show I was well impressed with the amount of metal you get for your money. You won't get a fancy dashboard and cornering headlights but what you do get is honest decent low cost transport. I liked it a lot. No wonder Dacia sell nearly 8 times as many Dusters as Skoda does Yetis (see my previous post on that here).

Edited 7 October, 201015 yr by 900000

There doesn't really appear to be any 'budget' brands around any longer.

Chevrolet (at least the export brand that formerly was Daewoo). Their segment price points seem to be comparable to Skoda's for the Mk1 Fabias and Octavias.

I saw a new Sportage earlier this week. It looked pretty good I have to say. From what I understand, the range now starts at about £16500 although they are pretty high spec.

I've seen a few Yeti's since I bought my Fabia back in August and I now spot the same Yeti every day coming back from work.

It was also good to see the Yeti before it was launched at last years Briskoda National Day.

Davy

I am pretty sure the figures don’t tell the whole story. I recently had a Fiat Sedici 4x4 and although Fiat didn’t sell many, once you got up to the North East or Scotland their numbers proliferated. Cheap 4x4s make great sense up North whereas down in somewhere like London they probably aren’t quiet as popular/useful. I see a lot more Chelsea tractor type 4x4s when I am in ………er ..Chelsea than I do in Scotland. So perhaps if 900000 went up North he would be able to have a bigger family get together

I am aware that 2x4s are available

Concentration of Yetis can also depend on where the dealers are. We don't have one in Chelmsford, but Colchester and London do.

Some people won't see the make and get interested or want two one hour round trips for any service work or issues.

I've only seen two Yetis within 10 miles of our house in a year. A bright red one that I saw at long distance due to the colour and DRLs (like ours) before we got ours and a dull blue one that we nealy missed in a car park, the colour kind of blended into the background of other cars and 4x4s and it was only the unpainted rear bumper that made me notice it.

Nobody sees ours as it lives in the garage and does 40 miles a week.

Concentration of Yetis can also depend on where the dealers are. We don't have one in Chelmsford, but Colchester and London do.

Some people won't see the make and get interested or want two one hour round trips for any service work or issues.

I've only seen two Yetis within 10 miles of our house in a year. A bright red one that I saw at long distance due to the colour and DRLs (like ours) before we got ours and a dull blue one that we nealy missed in a car park, the colour kind of blended into the background of other cars and 4x4s and it was only the unpainted rear bumper that made me notice it.

Nobody sees ours as it lives in the garage and does 40 miles a week.

Yes, there is quite gap in the middle of Essex - dealerships seem to be scattered along the coast at Clacton (my supplying dealer), Colchester (where you feel second class to Peugeot!) and then down to Basildon.

I've told the wife that we'll open a dealership at either Chelmsford or Braintree if we win a part of the £112 million tonight :no:

It's the same in Norfolk and Suffolk with a massive hole between Ipswich, Stowmarket, Norwich and Great Yarmouth.

Edited 8 October, 201015 yr by Trevorminor

They are waiting in hiding , untill the winter , and will then be the only motor on our roads !!!

Well Skoda had a RECORD September! See here:

http://new.skoda-auto.com/COM/about/info/news/News/Pages/2010_61_SeptemberSales.aspx

But look at the detail stats:

Deliveries to customers in September 2010 (Škoda models in comparison with September 2009):

Octavia (31,546 vehicles / +16.5 percent)

Fabia (23,434 vehicles / -16.5 percent)

Superb (9,962 vehicles / +139.3 percent)

Yeti (5,389 vehicles / +240.0 percent)

Roomster (3,327 vehicles / -29.5 percent)

Octavia Tour (2,132 vehicles / -37.7 percent).

And unfortunately BOTH the Yeti and the other big gainer in terms of numbers - the Superb - are made in the same factory. Least the Roomster has gone down to help a bit with capacity!

So to go back to the percentages of Skodas on the road I took the above numbers (sans the Octavia Tour) and this the percentages are:

Octavia 43%

Fabia 32%

Superb 13%

Yeti 7%

Roomster 5%

Which I'd imagine is about right for the UK too.

So of the 1000 cars that will pass you in the UK:

6.88 will be Octavias

5.12 will be Fabias

2.08 will be Superbs

1.12 will be Yetis

0.80 will be Roomsters

so 0.112% will be Yeti's.

1 in a thousand. as high as that in the UK? I doubt that with all the vehicles going elsewhere in the world, Skoda were expecting to import 3000 in a year, now it my be higher than that now say 5000, but that is a drop in the ocean compared to the number of cars on the road. How many cars on the road at the moment 15million? 5000 in 15m is nothing. It's hardly surprising you don't see very many.

And that is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

Mike

I thought there were 22 million cars in the uk?

If 6000 Yeti's have been sold to date, that is one yeti for every 3333 cars you pass!

I have seen more roomsters than yetis, but that is because they have been out longer, and of course you see fabia's and octavias everywhere.

Whilst driving my last vehicle, a Superb, which I had for 5 years, it was always a strange event to see another on the road!

I can remember when the Roomster first came out, on the very first weekend we had our demo I went out earlyish on a Sunday morning to me meet with an identicle Roomster coming towards me on the A281.

I thought 'Oh who took the Roomster home last night' of course realising I was driving it. Turns out it was another Skoda garages demo and the chap didn't live far from me at the time. Was rather strange.

I've seen in total since launch 11 Yetis on the road and I'm constantly on the lookout for them!

I can remember when the Roomster first came out, on the very first weekend we had our demo I went out earlyish on a Sunday morning to me meet with an identicle Roomster coming towards me on the A281.

I thought 'Oh who took the Roomster home last night' of course realising I was driving it. Turns out it was another Skoda garages demo and the chap didn't live far from me at the time. Was rather strange.

I've seen in total since launch 11 Yetis on the road and I'm constantly on the lookout for them!

I overtook a red yeti, the same colour as mine, on the A64 near York on Sunday. Driven by an elderly couple who didn't even notice me passing!

I do see other yetis regularly though as there are now several Yeti company cars in my organisation around the country, including 2 where I am based.

I thought there were 22 million cars in the uk?

If 6000 Yeti's have been sold to date, that is one yeti for every 3333 cars you pass!

I have seen more roomsters than yetis, but that is because they have been out longer, and of course you see fabia's and octavias everywhere.

Whilst driving my last vehicle, a Superb, which I had for 5 years, it was always a strange event to see another on the road!

This is of course nominally true but there will be a concentration of Yetis around Skoda Dealers as many customers gravitate to their local suppliers for service and aftercare. Around here I regularly see a Silver and a Muscovado usually on trips to Bangor.