http://europe.autonews.com/article/20150311/ANE/150319991/skodas-2018-sales-goal-at-risk-on-russia-slump

 

 

In 2014, Skoda’s sales in Russia dipped 3 percent to less than 84,500 vehicles, while they rose more than 14 percent to nearly 75,500 vehicles in the UK, according to industry data.

Those figures  really give some perspective. Skoda was the third best selling car brand in Finland last year with a whopping 8371 cars sold.

"The UK may well replace Russia this year as our third-largest market,” Eichhorn said

 

Yeah, but that's mostly because the Russian economy has gone down the toilet, and many European Nations have suffered years of negative or stagnent growth.

I imagine the UK market is pretty steady and they should be customer focused if we are their 3rd largest market.

This was also my main reason for choosing the Octavia as it was the 2nd most popular car in Switzerland for the last 3 years (Golf was top) but with similar numbers to Finland .

The UK is a very important market for all manufacturers due to the larger volume of new car & fleet sales.