SIAB 2005, Luxurious Cars with Great Horsepower

Luxury, great horsepower, up-to-the-minute cars, as well as retro ones and many beautiful girls - this is the offer of the International Auto Show Bucharest 2005.

The International Auto Show Bucharest (SIAB) opened today for the audience. Approximately 200 companies "conquered" the hangars at Romaero Baneasa, and they have a rich offer: 80 models and premiers especially in the segment of the luxurious cars, motorcycles, utility vehicles, as well as retro cars, high technology audio systems, the newest accessories and car pieces.

LIKE IN PARIS. SIAB 2005 is organized by the Association of Car Producers and Importers (APIA), into partnership with the French company Auto Moto Cycle Promotions, which also takes care of the French Auto Show. SIAB has an expo surface 25% higher than in 2003, and 40% more companies. The number of the foreign companies present has increased three times compared to 2003. 100,000 visitors came to SIAB then, but the organizers expect 250,000 visitors this year.

DELUXE. The cars admired and photographed the most are the top models. Porsche Carrera GT. The 612 horsepower of the car cost 397,000 euros (no taxes included). "We are yet to sell such a car in Romania. WE hope to sell at least one at SIAB", one of the sales representatives of the company says. More optimistic, the people from Bavaria Automobile watch the ones that take pictures of the Rolls Royce saloon. They have already sold two of those. Lamborghini exposes its Murcielagi Roadster, with a no-tax-included that starts at 308,000 euros. Bentley brought Continental Flying Spur, with a no-tax price of 208,000 euros. A superb Spyder Aniversery can be admired in the Maserati sector - the 25th car out of a 90 cars series. It costs "only" 130,000 euros.

NEWCOMERS. The powerful development of the Romanian market attracted also the representatives of Aston-Martin. Their top model is Vanquish S, with a no-tax price starting from 224,867 euros. "This is the fastest car. James Bond drove it in his latest movie and it reaches 330 km/h", Heinrich Karner, the Aston Martin Salzburg director, says. He came to Romania especially for SIAB. He expects to sell two or three at this show only.

NEWS. Citroen shows, for the first time in Romania its complete C series, from C1 to C6. There are some premiers from the general importer of the Peugeot brand, Trust Motors: 407 Coupe, the face-lifted 307 and the mini-class 1007, which has two electrical sliding doors. Toyota brought two of the premiers showed in Geneva and Frankfurt, Aygo and the new Hilux pickup.

MOTORS. You can make your dream come true at SIAB, if you dream of riding a high-class motorcycle. BMW brought its new roadster K 1200 R, before showing it at Mondial de Deux Roues in Paris or in EICMA Milano, and Honda brought a rarity for the entire Europe - Rune, a cruiser for the American market only, which has a gigantic six-cylinder engine.

LOGAN, THE CHEAPEST IN ITS CLASS. Dacia Logan (photo) is by far the cheapest car presented at SIAB. The Ambiance has a final price of 6,230 euros. Logan Diesel isn’t much more expensive, the standard model costs 7,270 euros.

The models of Chevrolet represent the competition for the Romanian cars. Spark, the descendant of Matiz, has a no-tax price of 5,176 euros. For Kalos, it starts from 6,005 euros, and has a no-tax price starting form 8,168 euros. These cars are brought from Asia which means and extra tax of 30%. The Asian producers have brought some other attractive models from the point of view of the price. Kia has Picanto, which has a no-tax price of 7,622 euros. Honda’s Jazz has a price that starts at 12,000 euros. A little bigger, the Nissan Almera is sold at SIAB at 12,139 euros. The dealers say the final price can be close to the no-tax-included one. Even if the custom duty is high, buying a car in leasing permits the paying of the tax only for the residual value, which is 20% of the total car value.