Traditionally a good month for sales, June was no different this year, with importers and local makers of cars announcing last month the largest sales they have ever made.
“Unlike the Austrian market (which is more mature and does not fluctuate as much from one month to another) June in Romania is one of the great sale months, as statistically proven over the last few years,” believes Brent Valmar, the chairman of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers of Romania (APIA) and chief executive of Porsche Romania, the importer of the German carmaker Volkswagen”s brands on the domestic market.
The upcoming (at the time) holiday season and the first deliveries of cars through the car fleet renewal programme drove the automotive market beyond 120,000-125,000 new units (cars and commercial vehicles) sold in the first half, according to market information.
This value is an approximately 60% increase from the same time last year and confirms the much better than expected performance of the automotive market this year, which reached about 1.5bn euros.
June was practically the best month of the automotive market ever, with some 25.000-27,000 new vehicles sold.
“The growth in June is a continuation of the growth in the previous months, adding to, as far as Renault is concerned, the first large-scale deliveries as part of the disposal premium programme. Renault has about 1,300 vehicles left to deliver in July and August through the Programme for Boosting Vehicle Fleet Renewal,” believes Nicolas Ianculescu, Renault Romania”s general manager.
The company sold over 10,000 cars in the first half of the year, which is more than double the same time last year. The same goes for Romcar, Ford importer, which announced it made the best sales figures ever in June.
Even those brands that got fewer cars through the disposal programme witnessed surges in sales. “Volkswagen and Skoda increased last month due to the special offers and new models that are making their presence felt,” says Brent Valmar. He confirms that the deliveries logged in June as a result of the purchases through the fleet renewal programme made a significant contribution to the total.
Local carmaker Dacia was responsible for the bulk of the sales on the automotive market, with its sales on the domestic market exceeding 62,700 units in the first half, which accounts for an increase of almost 90% on the same time last year.
The luxury brands in their turn saw significant growth in June, but the reason in this case, the players on the market say, was not the disposal bonus but the upcoming holidays. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro