Car production, however, slowed down to about 33,300 units in January, when it was 9% lower than in January 2015, while exports shrank by more than 15% to almost 27,000 cars. Dacia’s production was only 1% lower, while Ford’s dropped by almost 40% to about 4,200 B-Max cars.
Car imports rose 26% to 4,000 units last month.
“The VAT decline from 24% to 20% led to an increase in sales of cars. Moreover, with banks paying such low interests, it’s no longer worth keeping your money there and consumer spending is on the rise in Romania,” said Ionut Lupu, commercial manager of Honda Trading Romania.
“We expect 15% growth for the local market.”
Car registrations increased by 17% to 5,800 in January, which makes it the best January since 2009, according to the Driving License and Vehicle Registration Department(DRPCIV) data.
As new car sales rose, imports of second hand cars and re-registrations fell last month. Used car registrations fell by almost 7% to 16,500, while re-registrations dropped 8% to 16,100 units last month.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)