Tariceanu sees his car business double

Citroen importer Automotive Trading Services (ATS), owned by Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, doubled its business to 44.3 million euros last year, from 22.4 million euros in 2004.

ATS achieved the highest growth in turnover among the top ten automotive importers and manufacturers, with only domestic carmaker Dacia doing better, according to the latest data available.

“The growth is due to the overall upward trend of the imported vehicle market, which went up 72.2%, as well as to Citroen-specific factors (launch of new models and the development of dealer network i.e.),” explains Bogdan Bucurescu, general manager of the company and owner of a 10% stake.

Tariceanu owns 90% in ATS but does not hold any executive positions according to the company representatives.

Tariceanu had not provided any comment on the results by the time of going to press.

The development of the business of the Citroen importer coincided with an overall trend of steady growth on the automotive market last year.

The flat tax and the relaxed conditions for loan granting, led to a boom of the market, especially when it comes to imported cars.

Total sales of imported cars exceeded 122,000 units, an increase of approximately 70% from the previous year.

Under the circumstances, the sales of Citroen cars exceeded the 3,500-unit threshold last year, that is twice higher than in 2004. However, this is in the context of the Citroen brand considerably increasing its investment in promotion by 40% from last year, ATS representatives say.

“The client portfolio is comprised of private companies and individuals, encouraged to buy a new car by the availability of funding, which in turn has witnessed an outstanding development, being the drive behind the growth in our sales in 2005,” Bucurescu explained.

The client list includes state-run companies, too. “We may have a few, but we cannot say exactly how many, because our records do not keep track of the type of ownership (state-owned or private i.e.) of the buyer. They account for an insignificant percentage in the total sales of Citroen, though,” Bucurescu says.

He did not care to reveal last year”s profit figures. The net profit in 2004 stood at almost 100,000 euros.

The growth pace of the automotive market last year was several times higher than the initial estimates of the players in the field, which said the growth was due to the additional incomes generated by the flat tax.

The appreciation of the domestic currency triggered a substantial decline in the price of imported cars, as well.

The scrapping bonus in its turn generated growth of the automotive market last year. Almost 15,000 units (or 6% of the market) were sold through the scrapping bonus system, 160 cars of which were Citroen (almost 5% of the total sales of this brand).

The automotive industry last year reached almost 3.5 billion euros, being one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro