The “First Car” program should have a longer lending period, and the interest rates should be lower, said Nicolas Maure, general manager of car producer Dacia.

“We need to continue replacing old cars. We need to convince users that it’s better to buy a new car instead of an old one, both in terms of costs, safety and environment impact,” Maure said, cited by local Wall-street.ro.

“We would like to sell 20% of the production in Mioveni on the Romanian market. This would mean about 60,000 cars, if we maintained a 30% share.”

French group Renault, which owns the Dacia brand, produces Dacia cars at the local plant in Mioveni and in Casablanca, Morocco.

“Last year we produced 338, 593 cars. We want to stimulate the domestic market, which unhappily doesn’t sell. We would like the Romanian market to reach 100,000-200,000 sold units per year,” Maure added.

The “First Car” program aims to support young people and help boost sales for new, less polluting cars, as well as increase domestic production. The state has pledged to back up the program by offering guarantees on car loans.

editor@romania-insider.com