This is the second highest level ever reached in Romania, but below the 400,000-unit expectations.
Last year’s growth was mainly driven by Ford’s plant in Craiova (southern Romania), while Dacia made 6% fewer cars in its Mioveni plant (southern Romania again) than in 2011.
The local vehicle production estimated at about EUR4 billion makes a direct impact on the economy, as Dacia accounts for about 10% of the country’s exports and about 3% of the gross domestic product.
Dacia made a little more than 307,000 units, while Ford Romania assembled more than 30,600, after the B-Max model went into production in midyear.
The output of the Craiova plant was actually half of what Ford had planned when manufacturing started in June last year.
Car production in Romania rose by 5.3% to 326,000 units, while utility vehicle production fell by 55% to 11,200 units, after Dacia discontinued Logan Van and Pick-up last summer.
Exports went up by more than 14% as a result of decline in demand on the Romanian market to over 320,800 units.
Had Dacia kept production at the same level as in 2011, around 330,000 units, and Ford assembled 60,000 B-Max cars, Romania would have seen almost 400,000 cars made in one year and worth EUR5 billion.
The factors that affected production were the modification of the pollution tax in 2012, which caused a 20% decline of the market to a little more than 72,000 cars and of Dacia, which saw sales drop 30% to 20,000 units last year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)