Should the sales pace maintain, the local brand will reach a volume of over 370,000 cars. The highest level reached before was of 294,000 cars, in 2013.
By volume, Dacia in the first ten months of the year gained almost 71,000 cars, the biggest volume increase among all the brands sold in Europe, according to left-lane.com data.
Among Dacia models sold in Europe, the biggest increase was registered by Logan, which in the first 10 months climbed by 141% against the year-earlier period, to almost 47,200 cars. The second biggest increase was reported by Duster SUV, by 44%, to 106,000 units, while Sandero, the small class model of the range manufactured both in Mioveni and Tangier, Morocco, climbed by 22%, to around 120,000 units.
The only model manufactured in Romania that did not advance in the first 10 months is Ford B-Max. The model produced in Craiova this year declined by 21% to 47,800 cars. On this volume, the model this year descended in the best-selling car ranking from the 58 position held in 2013, to 75.
Amid the plummeting sales of B-Max, the Craiova plant decided to lay off 680 employees, namely a fifth of its 3,200 employees.
Dacia Lodgy is the Romanian carmaker’s only model that posted a decline this year, by almost 40% to 18,000 units in the first 10 months.
Overall, 283,549 passenger cars were manufactured in the first 10 months in Mioveni, up 1% on the year-earlier period. Should the pace maintain in the last two months, the plant can go beyond the mark of 340,000 assembled cars this year as well.
The European car market climbed by 5.6%, to almost 11 million cars in the first ten months of this year.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)