During the announcement of its sales and financial results for 2021, Skoda published a cryptic teaser hinting at its new design language. Going under the name “Modern Solid” and focusing on “family and outdoor lifestyles”, the new style will be gradually rolled out starting from the second half of 2022.
The teaser shows an unidentified SUV – most likely a concept, parked behind a blurred glass. The only clearly visible part is a small portion of the front bumper with an aluminum-style skidplate and a large chunk of protective plastic, plus the fully covered grille.
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Other details are the vertically mounted LEDs, the laid-back windshield, clean surfacing, and a strong C-pillar. The absence of intakes makes us believe that this is a fully electric vehicle, most likely based on the MEB architecture. Its design will likely serve as a preview of future models including a trio of upcoming EVs that will be unveiled before 2030, joining the existing Enyaq iV and Enyaq Coupe iV.
Sales Dropped But Operating Profit Grew
In terms of sales, Skoda sold 878,200 vehicles in 2021 which represents a 12.6 percent drop compared to the 1,004,800 sales of 2020. Skoda says that this is due to the global semiconductor shortage and the pandemic in the second half of the year, describing 2021 as a challenging year.
The biggest seller last year was the Octavia with 200,800 units, followed by the Kamiq with 119,200 units, and the Karoq with 109,200 units. The fully electric Enyaq iV exceeded initial expectations with 45,000 deliveries last year. Predictably, the vast majority of Skoda sales (608,900 out of the 878,200 vehicles) happened in Europe, with Germany (136,800) remaining the strongest market.
Despite selling fewer vehicles overall, Skoda’s revenue was increased by 3.9 percent to €17.7 billion, operating profit grew by 43.2 percent to €1.08 billion, and cash flow was increased by 160 percent to €554 million. For 2022, Skoda is concerned about the effects of the war in Ukraine which is expected to cause supply bottlenecks, thus the automaker “remains committed to its efficiency program”.
