Skoda is forced right now to import Yeti models from its plant in Russia in order to meet demand
Skoda is preparing the launch of its biggest SUV ever, appropriately named Kodiaq. But it will face problems to fit it into production at the Kvasiny factory in the Czech Republic. This is because the Yeti, its smaller sibling is selling very well, despite being in its seventh year of production.
In fact, demand for the Yeti has been so strong across Europe, that imports have had to be made from the plant in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. In total, Skoda has delivered more than 580,000 Yetis to customers worldwide, and due to continued high demand is expanding capacity for production. In the UK, Skoda 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 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.