Car market meets seven-month targets

Car sales on the Romanian market amounted to 74,000 units in the first seven months of 2003, 19% more than last year, with some 14,000 units having been sold in July, according to the Association of Romanian Carmakers and Importers (APIA). Analysts were thus proved right, as their early-year estimates had pointed to growth pace ranging between 15% and 25%.

Imports maintained a constant pace, averaging 15%-20% growth in the seven months. Romanian-made cars presented mixed signals at first, especially after domestic carmaker Dacia replaced Dacia SuperNova – its best-selling model in Romania, with Dacia Solenza in the first part of the year. After a slump registered in the first quarter, sales of Romanian vehicles revved up in the months that followed.

Daewoo played a significant role as its sales went up over 60% in seven months, as compared with the corresponding period of last year. Under the circumstances, imports exceeded 28,000 vehicles, up from 24,000 last year. The sales of Romanian vehicles amounted to more than 45,000 units, accounting for a 7,000-unit increase or 19%.

Among the domestic producers, Dacia sold over 32,500 vehicles in seven months, followed by Daewoo with about 12,500. Renault was the best-selling imported brand, with 5,500 vehicles this year, 1,200 units having been sold in July. Skoda ranks second with 3,500 sold vehicles, while Volkswagen comes third with more than 3,400 units. The best-selling imported brands also include French carmaker Peugeot (3,000 units), Ford (1,700), Mercedes (1,300), Fiat (1,300), Opel (1,300), Iveco (1,200) and Citroen (830).
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro