The combined output of the two automobile plants in Romania, operated by Renault’s Dacia and Ford, decreased in October to a level not seen in the past years - only 30% of the peak volume recorded in September 2020.

The chip crunch has posed problems throughout the year, but it really knocked down the country’s automobile industry in October.

Specifically, the two plants produced no more than 18,277 cars altogether, according to the statistics transmitted by ACAROM and quoted by Profit.ro. The annual decrease measured 65%, meaning that 33,141 fewer automobiles were produced in the country with a value of EUR 0.5 bln.

Dacia plant reduced output to levels not seen since the first generation of Logan came into production - namely, it produced only 13,820 units in October 2021, a massive 55% plunge from the same month last year. The monthly output thus dropped by 15,800 cars.

In Craiova, Ford’s produced even fewer cars - 4,457 units, the equivalent of 20% of production recorded last year. This accounts for a huge difference, of 17,200 lost vehicles, compared to last year.

After 10 months, the production of cars in Romania, severely affected by the semiconductor crisis, reached 333,179 units, 6.5% fewer than the same period last year (the equivalent of 23,312 fewer cars produced).

Dacia assembled, in the first 10 months of the year, 208,104 vehicles, 1.6% (3,541 units) fewer than in the same period of 2020. Ford assembled 125,075 vehicles, 13.6% (19,771) fewer than last year.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Media.ford.com)