Dacia posted growth of 8.4% in revenue to 11.6 billion lei (EUR2.53 billion) in the first half compared with the year-ago period.
The Duster SUV, the most expensive model the Romanian carmaker sells, witnessed a significant increase in production in the first half. Whereas it accounted for almost 47% of the total production of the plant in the first half of 2015, the percentage rose to more than 58% in 2016 and to 62% this year. Since Duster is the most expensive Dacia model, its higher share of production offsets the overall production decline in terms of revenue.
The output of the plant fell by 4.2% in the first half, according to the association of carmakers in Romania (ACAROM) to 170,500 units, but Duster rose almost 3% to 106,000 units.
Automobile Dacia continues to rely on Duster for growth, both the current generation, available for sale until the end of the year and the second generation that will probably become available in December or in January at the latest.
Duster is the second best-selling compact model to individuals in Europe, while Sandero ranks third. Dacia assembled 231,558 cars in the first nine months of the year, fewer than the 240,000 assembled in its Mioveni plant in the year-ago period.
Automobile Dacia posted RON20.7 billion revenue in 2016, up 8.3%. (EUR1=RON4.5978)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)