During the same interval, Renault invested almost EUR800 million in Romania, out of a total of EUR2.2 billion invested between 2000 and 2013, according to company data.
Investments were operated as Dacia plant started production of Sandero Stepway (2009), Duster (2010) and of the new generations of Logan and Sandero (2012), followed in 2013 by the new Duster facelift. Also, the plant of Mioveni started manufacturing the new 0.9l TCe engine.
The upsurge of revenue, by 45% from EUR2.86 billion in 2012 to EUR4.16 billion in 2013 comes as the plant’s output also rose last year, to a record high level of 342,610 cars, up 16% on the year. The revenue increase also comes as in November 2012 the French group decided to produce in Romania the new generation of Renault Symbol, on the same platform as Logan.
In last year’s production, Renault models account for over 17% and in total output Renault Symbol model weighs 16%. In 2012, Renault brand weighed 7.6% in the total production of Automobile Dacia, with the increase being largely owed to Symbol model.
Output growth reflected not only in figures, but only in employees’ pockets. While in 2009, the average salary at the Mioveni plant stood below RON1,900, at the end of 2013 it had risen to RON3,154, namely almost double the industry average at a national level. Moreover, talks between Dacia management and the trade union brought employees a gross increase of RON180, namely a net increase of RON150, beside a one-time premium of RON360 million in May and one of RON1,400 for the 2013 results.
The start of Logan model production ten years ago and the new range launched by French Renault on the Romanian platform marked the “turning point” of the Romanian industry, believes Constantin Stroe, president of the Association of Carmakers in Romania, who is also managing board vice-president at Automobile Dacia.
Logan program, initially regarded with a doubtful eye, has meanwhile become Renault’s successful international low-cost program, getting from several tens of thousand cars in 2004 to over one million units assembled annually worldwide.
Dacia’s horizontal and vertical integration has meanwhile got to over 80% of the value of passenger cars manufactured in Mioveni, as a result of the massive multiplication of the number of suppliers, most of them foreign-owned, which produce parts for Dacia.
Moreover, beside the almost 14,000 employees of the car plant, at present the Romanian car industry employs more than 200,000 people at 600 companies that operate almost one quarter of exports and contribute over 10% to GDP.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)