Turnover generated by vehicle sales registered during the January-July period was worth more than 2.2bn euros, according to ZF estimates, to which the value posted by car parts (around 20%) is added, which drove the total figure to around 2.6bn euros in the first seven months. In 2007, turnover generated by vehicle trade exceeded 4bn euros.
In the first seven months, car sales dropped by 1.8% and reached 174,480 units.
"By yearend, car sales are not expected to rebound, mainly due to the introduction of the new environment tax that favours used car imports. At best, sedan car sales will reach last year's level," Constantin Stroe, Automobile Dacia deputy chairman, told ZF.
Dacia vehicle sales in the first seven months dropped by some 12% and reached 54,632 units. Over the same period, sales of Dacia cars declined by 17%, whilst exports rose by almost 40% in the first seven months and reached 95,025 units.
New registrations dropped by over 2% and fell to 171,385 units, as their market share shrank to 60%, whilst the level of new registrations stood at 76% of the market during the same period of last year.
The volume of used passenger car imports advanced by over 107%. The best-selling import brand in the first seven months was Renault, with 15,881 units, slightly lower from the same period of 2007.
Romcar, Ford importer domestically, in the first seven months sold 14,555 units, which corresponds to a market share of almost 7%. In this period, sales rose by almost 35%, the fastest pace of the top 10 imported brands.
Toyota posted the second fastest growth rate, with 6,602 sold units, up over 24% against last year. Fiat in this period sold 9,849 units, up almost 24% from last year.
The segment that boasted the fastest growth rate was still that of compact cars, with 53,047 sold units, almost 28% above the level of the same period of 2007.
SUV sales in January-July jumped by almost 20% and reached 11,153 units. Sales of imported small-class passenger cars dropped by almost 10% in January-July and reached 37,450 units.
Due to rising diesel oil prices, cars with diesel-powered engines fell to 32% of the market in July, compared with 48% in 2007.
In the first seven months, the weight of diesel cars stood at 38.8% of the market.
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