Renault up now, down next year

Renault Nissan Romania, the second largest car importer on the local market, has doubled its sales this year due to the boom seen by funding systems. The company will exceed the 300 million-euro mark this year, but anticipates a reduction as of next year. “The commercial battle among the actors on the car market makes the profit per vehicle shrink. Only those that sell a lot can compensate by volume. I think a difficult time will come for everybody,” says Nicolas Ianculescu, the general manger of the company. He believes the uncontrolled import of used vehicles, which could occur after accession, risks disturbing the operations of dealers of new cars, and having “Romania become the dumpster of the Western European markets.” Therefore after the 24,000 Renault cars and 2,000 Nissans estimated to have been sold this year, the company anticipates to sell 20,000 Renaults and 2,500 Nissans next year. ZF