Out of the ten best-selling imported car brands, Romanian-held companies import only three - Ford, Hyundai and Peugeot, and by 2010, Hyundai may be the only one left on the list, reads BUSINESS Magazin.
When asked if he had any news about Mercedes and Ford, two brands introduced and represented by Ion Tiriac in Romania since 1990, the entrepreneur delightedly replied that in several weeks the location of the new Mercedes-Benz plant in Eastern Europe would become publicly known.
However, his tone changed when asked about Ford. He half-heartedly said he "lost the import", despite the fact that Romcar, the official importer of the US brand and part of Tiriac Group, forecast turnover worth 340m euros and a sales volume of 26,000 units. Only a few months after Ford finalised the acquisition of the plant in Craiova, the US carmaker is in talks with Ion Tiriac to acquire Romcar, sources on the car market say.
The contract is expected to be signed within the next three months, and in a year Ford will completely take over import operations, while Tiriac is expected to receive around 10-11m euros from the sale.
Ford Europe officials would not confirm the information, while Tiriac Auto representatives also declined to comment. However, what is more interesting is that it is not only Romcar that has caught the US group's attention, but the major dealers inside and outside Bucharest, as well.
Ford's direct arrival with its own import and distribution firm is part of a trend seen as normal by market analysts, given that the sales volume of new cars has more than tripled over the past 5 years. Renault, Mazda, BMW, Citroen and Daimler have all entered the Romanian market either through the acquisition of an importer already established on the market or via the creation of a parallel entity. The onslaught of international carmakers onto the Romanian market started after 2007.
"The main reason we directly got involved with the Romanian market was EU integration," said Carl-Theo Fitzau, general manager with BMW Group Romania, which began to import BMW cars from Automobile Bavaria on July 1, last year. In addition, EU integration was an important factor for Citroen, after the carmaker decided to get involved in brand import activities. As a result, Citroen Romania replaced Automotive Trading Services. "EU integration paved the way for Citroen's arrival, but was by no means the main factor - direct involvement came as a result of the market's growth rate," said Guillaume Croset, general manager of Citroen Romania.
However, Citroen's arrival was also prompted by the rather modest results posted by the previous importer. This was also, to some extent, the case for Honda, which last October set up its own firm, Honda Trading Romania. By 2010, the list of carmakers directly present in Romania is also expected to include Peugeot.
Imported car brands
Out of the ten best-selling imported car brands only 3 - Ford, Hyundai and Peugeot, are imported by Romanian-held company's and by 2010, Hyundai may be the only such importer left on the list
The onslaught of international carmakers onto the Romanian market started after 2007
The main factors that encourage carmakers to become directly involved with the Romanian market are EU integration, market growth rates and the rather modest results registered by previous importers
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