Luxury car brands to battle over Romanian customers

The presence of luxury carmakers will be felt more strongly than ever at this year”s Bucharest International Auto Show (SIAB), which is scheduled to open to the public tomorrow.

The real novelty this year for the Romanian automotive market is the official presence of the British brand Aston Martin. The list of luxury car manufacturers at the show this year will also be joined by such names as Rolls Royce, Lexus, Porsche, Infinity, Lamborghini and Ferrari. The cars in the portfolios of these companies, complemented by a few exclusive models such as the new Audi Q7, are priced at 100,000 euros and up.

Representatives of AMC Apia Expo, the organisers of SIAB, say the deluxe models that premiered at last month”s Frankfurt International Auto Show that will also be on display at SIAB include the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Porsche Cayman, Lamborghini Gallardo Special Edition and Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster.

These companies” strong interest in the show in Bucharest is due to the growth in sales of luxury cars on the Romanian market since the beginning of the year.

Two Rolls Royce Phantoms had already been sold in Romania as of July, as well as two Maybachs (the super luxury brand belonging to German group DaimlerChrysler), two Ferraris, seven Maseratis, ten Bentleys and Lamborghinis, and at least 35 Porsches.

Data published by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers reveal that two Lexuses, one Hummer, one Maserati, 5 Jaguars and 10 Porsches were sold on the Romanian market in August alone.

Besides official statistics, some clients also buy their cars directly from the European or North American market, meaning the total number of luxury cars registered on the Romanian market could be much higher.

Combined sales of luxury and sports cars accounted for less than 0.3% of the almost 130,000 cars sold in the first half of this year. alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro