“The trend I have identified is the preference to buy engines for which the green component is important, which has not happened before. To customers, green means lower taxes,” says Milea.
Opel saw the second highest increase in sales after Dacia in the first ten months of the year, and was one of the ten best-selling car brands, according to the data of the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA).
Opel sales rose by more than 12% in January-October compared with the same time last year, reaching almost 2,300 cars. On the other hand, this year’s growth comes after the 50% drop to 2,246 cars in 2012, almost double the decline of the overall market, 24%.
“We performed better than the market in the first ten months of the year, as car sales overall continued to decline. In Opel’s case, sales of cars went up because we kept our corporate customer portfolio and gained new ones,” Milea said.
Corporate customers generate 76% of the brand’s sales, higher than the rate for the entire market, 70%.
The best-seller this year was Astra, 772 units, 60% more than in the year-ago period, with sales evenly distributed between sedan and hatchback versions.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)