In March, new car sales in Romania climbed 17.1% to 5,358 units, from 4.577 units in the same month in 2014, according to data released Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
The EU auto market advanced 8.6% on the year in the first three months of 2015, to 3.52 million units, due to a positive evolution of large markets.
In January-March this year, new car registrations grew 32.2% in Spain, to 267,137 units, 13.5% in Italy, to 428,464 units, 6.8% in Great Britain, to 734,588 units, 6.4% in Germany, to 757,630 units.
Portugal had the biggest growth in Europe, of 36.1%, to 46,212 units, followed by Spain with 32.2%, and Ireland with 29.6%, to 64,671 units.
At the opposite end were Austria, where new car registrations dropped 7.5%, to 75,154 units, Poland with a 6.1% decline, to 91,670 units, and Finland, with a 3.8% decrease, to 29,355 units.
Dacia registrations in the EU rose 5.1% to 95,414 units, in January-March 2015, from 90,796 units in the same period a year ago. ACEA estimates Dacia had a market share of 2.7% at the end of the first quarter, down from 2.8% at the end of March 2014.
In March alone, Dacia registrations rose 7.4%, from 35,688 to 38,329 units.
New car sales of France’s group Renault, the third largest EU auto manufacturer and owner of Dacia, grew 10.1% in January-March, to 334,817 units. Renault’s market share rose to 9.5% at the end of the first quarter, from 9.4% in the same period last year.
Registrations of the EU’s largest carmaker, German Volkswagen, increased 9.3%, to 856,720 units, securing it a 24.3% market share in the EU.
The second largest EU carmaker, PSA Peugeot, registered a 3.4% increase in new registrations, to 377,857 units, but its market share fell to 10.7%from 11.2%.
The biggest growth in the EU was registered in the first three months by Jeep (206.8%), Mitsubishi (77.5%) and Porsche (47.2%).