Car market stagnates in H1

The overall sales registered by Dacia and the top ten imported brands in terms of volume, which account for over 75% of the overall market, dropped by 1.6% in the first half of this year and reached 137,029 units, despite the fact that at the beginning of the year the officials of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers had projected 5% market growth rate for this year. The top ten imported car brands in terms of sales posted an overall sales increase of 7.4% in the first half of this year and of almost 10% in June, considering that in the first half of last year the increase against the similar period of the previous year amounted to 55%. Whereas in 2007 all imported brands posted at least two-digit increases, in the first half of this year three top ten brands saw with lower volumes. According to Brent Valmar, APIA vice-president, the slump in H1 was due to the introduction of the new environment tax and the trend of the foreign exchange rate.