Škoda's profit fell last year, it announced investments of 2.5 billion euros

The Czech carmaker Škoda Auto, which is part of the Volkswagen Group (VW), announced on Wednesday that it will invest around 2.5 billion euros in the technologies of the future over the next five years, with more than half of this amount going to investments in electric vehicles. The largest exporter in the Czech Republic reported an operating profit for 2020 of 756 million euros on Wednesday, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 54.5%, as the new coronavirus pandemic reduced its deliveries. Last year, Škoda's revenues fell by 13.8% to 17.1 billion euros. However, worldwide sales of Škoda cars remained above 1 million vehicles in 2020, for the seventh year in a row, even though they fell by 19% to 1.005 million cars. The reason was production outages at the beginning of the pandemic last spring and a decline in sales in China, which is the carmaker's largest single market. Škoda said that in 2021 it expects a revival of its performance. The Czech carmaker, which is considered to be the driving force of the export-oriented economy, stated in a statement when publishing the results for 2020 that it will allocate 1.4 billion euros for the development of electromobility as part of its five-year investment plan. Further investments will be made in digitization activities as well as in plant modernization.