The 3Q trend hurt the first nine month results as in the first six months exports were still climbing, by 2.5%, supported by the first quarter figures. Overall, in the third quarter of 2014, exports were down by over 10,500 Dacia and Ford cars, with a cumulated value of almost EUR130 million, according to ZF calculations, with the average price being put at EUR12,000.
The 3Q export decline comes after a 12.1% contraction of output to a little more than 117,000 cars in the April-June period.
The share of exports in the two car plants’ total output rose from 88% in the first nine months of last year to 93% in the same period of 2014. For Ford, exports remained close to 100% of production in both 2013 and 2014, while in the case of Dacia, the weight of sales on foreign markets increased from 85% last year to 91% this year.
Dacia’s exports were still in positive territory in the first nine months of this year, with an increase of almost 5%. However, the advance is exclusively owed to the first six months, as exports slid by 10% in 3Q, the equivalent of almost 7,000 cars, worth above EUR80 million, according to ZF estimates.
On the other hand, the export decline comes as the Dacia plant of Mioveni this year lost almost two thirds of Sandero model production. Sandero is the best-selling model of the brand in Europe.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)