Second-hand car imports take a dive

Imports of second-hand cars dropped 60% last year, down to 21,000 units, after the introduction of the compulsory Euro 3 pollution norms. “Such a plunge was to be expected, since no more cars in breach of the Euro 3 pollution norms could be imported,” said Marius Carp, executive director of the Romanian Association of Carmakers and Importers (APIA). Consequently, Carp says, “many of the second-hand car buyers went for the Romanian-made autos, similar in price, but they also chose new imported cars.” Second-hand imports plummeted to 21,100 units, down from the 53,700 cars that entered Romanian in 2001. However, the sales of new cars went up. ZF