Romanians Go for New Cars at Full Speed

Domestic consumers bought 51,397 new cars in the first five months of this year; this is 42.7% more than the same period of time last year.

The Association of Automobile Producers and Importers says that Romanian-made cars sell in greater number than the foreign made ones; still, an impressive 20,005 units of imported brands were sold in the first five months of 2004, as compared to 14,184 during the same period of time last year.

Foreign Brands …

At the top of the list of car makers stays Renault, with 3,833 units sold; then come Skoda and Peugeot - with 2,979 units and 2,223 units sold, respectively. Volkswagen, which ranked third last year, dropped to the fourth position, with 2,150 units sold.
As for models of foreign cars Romanians like most, they were: Clio, Megane, Skoda Octavia, and Skoda Fabia, in that order. Peugeot 206 and Peugeot 307 ranked five and six respectively, in the preference of Romanian buyers.

… And Local Brands

The foreign car-makers were no match to the domestic ones, like Dacia and Daewoo. During the same first five months of 2004 some 31,392 Romanian-made cars were sold, which is 43.8% more than the number of cars sold during the first five months of last year. The break-down of figures shows Dacia sold 19,314 units, Daewoo sold 11,989 units, and Aro sold 89 units of 4x4s.

Exports Are on the Rise Too

Though still lagging behind import levels, exports picked up too due to a 62.5% increase in domestic output. Some 17% of the total production of 36,950 units, made since January till May, was exported. This is a 157% exports increase from last year.