The launch of Skoda's locally made Superb sedan last week is expected to give the Czech brand another boost as it continues its climb in the world's largest vehicle market.

Its fast-growing China operation has also helped Shanghai Volkswagen Automobile Co - a joint venture between Skoda's legendary German parent Volkswagen and SAIC Motor Corp - regain the crown as the top player in the domestic passenger car maket.

Zhang Hailiang, executive director for sales and marketing at Shanghai Volkswagen, told China Daily that introduction of the Superb shows Skoda has completed the initial strategic deployment of its main lineup in China.

Skoda and Shanghai Volkswagen have positioned the Superb - which has the Chinese name Haorui, meaning boundless - as "an elegant and practical multi-purpose mid-sized sedan with human-tech".

"The launch of the Superb Haorui is of great significance to upgrade Skoda's brand image in China as it's Skoda's top-notch model," Zhang said.

The 114-year-old Czech brand introduced the Octavia Mingrui compact sedan from Shanghai Volkswagen in 2007, followed by the Fabia Jingrui subcompact at the end of last year.

Skoda is rapidly emerging as a significant brand in China's competitive car market. In the first seven months of this year, its sales in the nation surged 57 percent over the same period of 2008 to 56,162 vehicles. In July alone it sold 10,018 cars, a monthly record. Shanghai Volkswagen announced earlier this year that it expects to sell more than 100,000 Skoda cars in 2009, almost double last year's figure.

Winfried Vahland, chief of Volkswagen Group China, said the Superb Haorui will help Skoda maintain its strong growth in China.

Zhang said the Superb Haorui will further improve Shanghai Volkswagen's overall market competitiveness.

Shanghai Volkswagen's total sales climbed by a quarter to 376,000 vehicles in the first seven months, topping Volkswagen's other joint venture with FAW Group, and General Motor's tie-up with SAIC. It aims to sell more than 600,000 vehicles this year, up from 501,000 units in 2008.

Shanghai Volkswagen is also making a phalanx of Volkswagen models, such as the Lavida, Polo, Passat Lingyu, Santana and Touran. It plans to produce a Volkswagen Tiguan long-wheelbase SUV later this year.

"We will press ahead with our double-brand strategy, although it is a double-edged sword," Zhang said.

He said the two brands - Volkswagen and Skoda - enable the joint venture to grab a bigger share in China's car market, although they are in some ways competitive with each other.

Shanghai Volkswagen has benefited from the effect of "one plus one is larger than two" through the double-brand strategy, he added.

To differentiate market positioning between the Superb Haorui and Passat Lingyu, Zhang said the Superb is a product with "an integration of Skoda's brand essence and lots of Volkswagen's up-to-date technologies", while the Passat is based on Volkswagen's mature technologies and highly localized design.

Other Sino-foreign car joint ventures such as Shanghai GM and PSA Peugeot Citroen's tie-up with Dongfeng Motor Corp are also offering vehicles under two different marques.

Zhang said Shanghai Volkswagen will find more dealerships for Skoda to boost its sales.

The number of Skoda's authorized dealers in China will increase to 300 by the end of this year from 202 in 2008.

He said consumer confidence remains on the upswing in China's car market, which is expected to continue to grow steadily in the second half of this year, helped by the government's incentive policies.

He predicted passenger car sales in China will total 7 million units for the full year, up from roughly 5.5 million units in 2008.

In the first seven months of this year, passenger cars sales jumped by 42 percent to 4.4 million units, according to market data.

(China Daily 08/24/2009 page6)