New vehicle sales increase by nearly 29% in Romania in Jan-May, reach 10-year high

The number of new vehicle sales in Romania rose by 28.9% y/y to 70,373 in Jan-May, according to the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA). Sales at end-May reached the highest level since 2009. The number of new vehicles sold was at its 10-year high in May alone too, with 18,505 units. Companies have the largest share in total purchases (62%), but the number of vehicles sold to individuals increased notably by 88% y/y to 22,620 in the period. The weight of sales to individuals was only 27% in 2017. At the same time, the number of used cars decreased by 15.2% y/y in May and by 8.1% y/y to 197,010 in Jan-May. APIA estimates that sales of used cars would remain high this year, even though lower than in 2017. Still, the average age of used cars sold in Romania decreased, the Association noted. The top-selling car brand in Romania remains Dacia, followed by Volkswagen and Skoda. The local car producer has 32.4% market share in passenger cars market, as 31.1% of total cars sold in Romania are locally produced. APIA mentioned an important increase of eco-cars market share, up to 2.3% in Jan-Mar, from 1.7% in 2017. editor@romania-insider.com