Dacia and Daewoo down, imports still high up

Car sales increased in the first month of this year to 17,300 units, 17% more than in the same period of last year, but the two main segments – imports and Romanian cars had a completely opposite performance. If sales of imported cars increased by at least 50%, sales of Romanian cars dropped by about 6%. “January 2006 had fewer working days (sales began on January 9). Administrative rules on signing credit and leasing contracts changed, and this kept customers waiting. Difficult weather conditions in the first part of the month caused transport problems,” explains Jacques Abot, commercial manager for Romania at Dacia. However, he says, Dacia has exceeded the sales budget it had set for January 2006, with the sales target for the whole year below the 113,000 units achieved last year. ZF