New registrations of Romania’s Dacia cars in Germany increased by 14.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, almost three times faster than the German car market, reaching 11,423 units.

However, Dacia’s growth slowed down since the beginning of 2014, and was below the German market in March.

According to data published by the German vehicle registration authority KBA, quoted by local Ziarul Financiar, overall sales of new cars went up 5.6 percent in the first three months, to a total of 711,753 units.

Dacia had a market share of 1.6 percent in the first quarter.

Of the 33 brands analyzed by KBA, 18 recorded increase. Seven brands had a better evolution than Romania’s Dacia, the highest increase of 36 percent being recorded by Jaguar.

In March, Dacia registrations increased by 3.1 percent, to almost 4,000 cars, a slower growth compared to January and February, when the brand’s sales increased by 25.4 percent and 17.7 percent respectively.

In Germany, Renault, Dacia’s parent company, saw a 2.8 percent drop in the first quarter, to almost 25,000 cars, while in March its sales went up 2.3 percent.

Dacia also performed well in France, where it recorded a growth of 25.5 percent in the first quarter. In March, Dacia had an advance of over 50 percent, the highest increase on the French market.

Dacia upped its sales by 19 percent last year, to some 430,000 units. Over 290,000 new Dacia cars were registered last year in European countries, resulting in a market share of 2.1 percent.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com