APIA officials said commercial vehicles witnessed the most significant decline, considering Ford was still manufacturing the Transit Connect in Craiova (southern Romania) in the first half of last year, assembling almost 6,000 units from January through July.
Dacia accounts for 99% of the production, as Roman Brasov (central Romania) only made 12 trucks and Ford has barely started manufacturing of the B-Max model in Craiova, having assembled fewer than 600 cars.
Exports increased by 7% in the first seven months to 192,000 vehicles, while exports of cars rose by 10% to almost 182,000 units.
Despite the decline in the first seven months, the local vehicle production may see its best year ever, because Dacia’s should reach 330,000 units, while Ford plans to assemble 60,000 B-Max in Craiova this year, which would drive total production to 400,000 units, the highest level in Romania’s history.
APIA data show a difference of only several hundred units between Dacia’s production and exports, which the carmaker’s officials say is because it takes a while from the moment the car leaves the assembly line until it is delivered to the market where it will be sold. In some cases it may take more than a month.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)