The Czech used car dealer, AAA Auto, in the last four months of last year derived sales worth around 8 million euros (28.8 million RON) on the Romanian market. The company had officially entered this market in September 2005.
AAA Auto ended 2005 with losses of more than half a million euros (1.9 million RON).
“Costs are normal related to the opening of a new company on the market and expenses are in line with our business plan,” commented Anthony James Denny, chairman of the AAA Auto board.
AAA Auto has sold approximately 950 cars since arriving on the Romanian market last September and sales have been continuing in the same vein, registering a growth rate of 8 percent per month, said the company”s representatives.
By the end of this month, the company estimates that it will reach the threshold of 2,000 customers in Romania.
“Cars imported from Western Europe, of known origin, are in highest demand, and this is confirmed by the average age of cars for sale, which is approximately 4 years, as well as by the average price of 9,000 euros,” stated Denny.
This year, the company will open its second car showroom in Bucharest, with a capacity of 800 cars, doubling present capacity. The project will entail investment thought to be around 3 million euros.
“We also plan to open other centres countrywide, investing as much as 45 million euros by 2007. Cities we are targeting are Timisoara, Brasov and Constanta,” Denny also said.
AAA Auto was set up in 1992 in the Czech Republic and the first cars were imported from the United States. AAA Auto last year sold almost 51,000 cars, 12 percent more than in 2004. Expansion on the Romanian and Slovakian markets boosted sales, and this year Czech officials plan to open new units both in the Czech Republic and in other Central and Eastern European countries.
Amid the development of financing systems and the low numbers of cars per capita, the market of used cars boomed last year, topping the market of new cars. Early this year, statistical data showed that Romanians are still below the average of Central and Eastern Europe in terms of car ownership, with 140 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with the average 193 per 1,000 inhabitants for the region. mihaela.popescu@zf.ro