Romstal Leasing grows by 41%

Romstal Leasing funded contracts worth more than 13.6 million euros in the first three months of 2005, an increase of 41% on the same time last year, says the company”s marketing manager, Ionut Chirila. “We easily overshot the estimates for the first quarter that were made at the beginning of the year – thanks to the overall trend on the automotive market and the increased importance of commercial utility vehicles in Romstal Leasing”s overall portfolio,” he added. Romstal Leasing plans to achieve a 50 million euro funding volume for this year, representing a 25% increase on the 2004 level of 40.3 million euros. Company officials say the changes to the excise duty formula for vehicles purchased through leasing will not affect the market since this type of funding allows payment of excise duties to be made at the end of the leasing period. “Despite excise duties at the beginning of 2005 being calculated at the entry price, instead of the residual value, the import market grew 80% on 2004,” Chirila explained. Commercial utility vehicles and cars account for 48% and 47% of the company”s portfolio respectively, while equipment stayed at 4.7%. Mediafax