Romania car market up 23% in first ten months of 2007 as imports rise

Car sales on the Romanian market grew by 23% in the first ten months of 2007 compared to the similar period last year, reaching 258,224 units sold, according to statistics announced by the Association of Car Producers and Importers (APIA) on Thursday.

The boost comes as sales of imported cars grew by no less than 51.8% reaching 165,888 units, while sales of Romania-made cars dropped by 8.3% to 92,340 units.

The Romanian market produced over 171,000 cars during the first ten months of the year, 66,440 of which were exported.

Romania’s biggest car-maker, Dacia, which is controlled by Renault, sold 77,991 cars, meaning a market share of 30.02%. The second Romanian maker, Daewoo, reported sales of 14,349 units, with a market share of 5.6%.

For imported cars, Renault comes first with sales of 24,292 units and a market share of 9.4%, followed by Volkswagen with 19,249 sold cars and Skoda with 18,885 sold units.

Opel and Ford are next in line with sales of 15,234 and 13,190 sold cars respectively.