Dacia car registrations went down almost 24% to 19,900 cars in March. The worst decline came from the Western European market, the main market of the Romanian carmaker, 17% in the first quarter and almost 30% in March. Under the circumstances, Automobile Dacia halted production in Mioveni (southern Romania) for two days, on March 30 and April 2.
Its European market share fell from 1.8% in the first quarter 2011 to 1.7% in the first quarter of 2012. Dacia’s officials say it will rise again once the Lodgy MPV has been launched in Europe. The new model is assembled at Renault’s plant in Tangiers, Morocco, and will have no direct impact on the Romanian economy other than component exports.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)