Sales of vehicles saw a decline of 20.8% in May, following a decrease in April as well.
Vehicles, which account for 77.6% of overall sales in the first five months of 2016 (35,889 units), saw a 0.9% increase, while commercial vehicles (goods and passengers), witnessed an advance of 34.3%.
In terms of car brands, the ranking is led by Dacia, with 9,593 units (a 26.7% market share and 27.8% lower volumes vs. 2015), followed by Volkswagen with 3,863 units (a 10.8% market share and 14.4% higher volumes vs. 2015); Skoda with 3,788 units (a 10.6% market share and 15.8% higher volumes); Renault with 2,581 units (a 7.2% market share and 17.3% higher volumes); Ford with 2,368 units (a 6.6% market share and 4.6% higher volumes) and Opel, with 1,522 units (a 4.2% market share and 31.4% higher volumes).
Hybrid or 100% electric vehicles saw a major increase in sales, of 63.6% (but lower volumes, namely, 247 units in 2016, compared with 151 in 2015).
Sales of vehicles made locally plunged 30.8% on the year in January-May, while sales of imported cars climbed 18.4%.
Car sales in Europe rose 9.9%. Except the Netherlands, all the other European Union member states saw increases.
In January-May, a total 165,370 vehicles were produced in Romania, 6.9% fewer than in the same period in 2015. Of these, 144,336 were made by carmaker Dacia and 21,034 by Ford. The highest volumes were registered by car model Dacia Duster, a total 83,320 units were produced (15,6% more than in the first five months of 2015), followed by Dacia Sandero (25,234 units, 5.6% fewer than in the year-earlier period), Ford B-MAX (21,034 units, 3.2% fewer than in 2015), Dacia Logan MCV (18,634 units, +1.0%), and Dacia Logan (17,148 units, 55.6% fewer than in 2015).
Exports fell 4.5% to 152,083 units, and the best-selling car model was Dacia Duster (81,729 units), up 19.5% against 2015, followed by Dacia Sandero (22,537 units, a 1.8% decline), Ford B-MAX (20,895 units and a 3.6% decrease), Logan MCV (17,142 units and a 1.9% decrease) and Dacia Logan (9,780 units and a 66% decline).