Škoda’s results for the first quarter of 2008 have exceeded all expectations. Sales over the past three months totalled 173,474 vehicles – that’s an increase of 15.7% compared to the same period last year.

Elsewhere, the Octavia also retained its popularity with buyers. Nearly 71,000 were sold in the first 12 weeks of 2008.

These impressive first quarter results were largely due to growing demand in Eastern Europe and China. Over 27,000 Škoda vehicles were sold in Eastern Europe (up 38.6%) with Chinese sales totalling 16,212.