Romania's car production heads to new record, yet industrial data show otherwise

Romania's automobile production rose by 27% YoY to 424,973 units in January-October, according to the association of local producers ACAROM. This is more than the entire production of last year and more than in the same period of 2019 - the best year for Romania's automobile industry so far.

Based on the data published by ACAROM, Profit.ro estimates that Romania will beat the previous annual record, approaching a level of 510,000 cars in 2022.

Of the entire January-October production, 28,491 units were produced in the Dacia plant in Mioveni, and 14,511 units were made in the Ford plant in Craiova.

The advance, compared to the first ten months of 2019 - before the Covid crisis, was +4.3%.

However, the statistics office reports a 3.1% YoY contraction of the output for the "transport means" industry in the first nine months of the year (January-September, latest available data). The annual advance reported by ACAROM for January-September was only 21% YoY - still way far from the negative 3.1% industrial output. The causes of the wide discrepancy remain unclear, with the production of engines or other products (not car parts) counted by the statistics office INS as part of the "transport means industry".

(Photo source: Facebook/Ford Romania)