The two Romanian entities of the French group Renault, the car producer Automobile Dacia and the importer Renault-Nissan, have set up a department in charge of car fleet sales.
“Firms with car fleets have more complex needs that individual customers. So far, individuals and companies have received relatively similar treatment,” says Nicolas Ianculescu, general manager of Renault Nissan Romania.
The new sales structure will allow for a clear differentiation between the services provided to the two customer categories, individuals and legal entities, and should also make way for the reduction of expenditure by at least 10%. “By early 2007, commercial activities for the three brands will be unified in parallel with integrated car service activities and post-sale services,” Ianculescu added.
“The proportion of car fleets in relation to the total sales logged by Dacia, Renault and Nissan on the Romanian market stood at 44%, and in Western Europe at 30%. This year will bring a higher proportion of fleets with regard to total sales,” say Renault officials. The rising proportion of fleet sales will take place amid a modest evolution of car sales to natural persons. “The Romanian car market reached the uppermost ceiling in 2005,” Ianculescu believes.
The year 2005 has been the best year so far for the car market and particularly for volume brands such as Dacia and Renault.
Dacia obtained sales of more than 113,000 units last year on the Romanian market alone, and another 50,000 units were exported, which generated turnover worth 1.2 billion euros, making it possible for the company to make a profit for the first time since Renault became a shareholder, in the autumn of 1999.
At the same time, Renault doubled its sales last year in comparison with 2004, to almost 24,000 units, and Nissan contributed more than 2,000 units to the total number of cars sold by Renault Nissan Romania, representing a figure of around 300 million euros.
However, for this year Renault projects car market growth of 5-10%.
“The growth potential of the car market will still be cars priced at around 10,000 euros,” Ianculescu believes. Nevertheless, Romania”s EU integration may entail the risk of car fleet deterioration through massive imports of used cars, as it has happened in Poland. This risk has already been taken into consideration, Renault-Nissan representatives say, and besides offering new cars, they will complement their business by offering used cars brought from abroad.
“We will pay great attention, though, to the observation of the anti-pollution norms and to the technical condition of cars. That is, we will not bring in very cheap and very old cars,” Ianculescu added. The joint sales department will work with central institutions, public services, and major Romanian or international corporations operating in Romania.