Romania's new automotive sales almost 20 pct up in the first two months of 2018

Romania's new automotive sales over January - February this year were 19.4 percent up from the same period of 2017, to 20,566 units; cars account for 16,500 units of total deliveries, shows data released on Thursday by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA).

Dacia tops the brand ranking with 4,554 units sold (cars and commercial vehicles) and a market share of 27.5 pct, followed by Volkswagen (1,784 units, 10.8 pct market share), Skoda (1,629 units and a 9.8 pct market share), Ford (1,272 units and a market share of 7.7 pct) and Renault (1,017 units and a market share of 6.1). 

Dacia Logan was the best-selling model in the first two months of the year (1,670 units), followed by Dacia Duster with 1,189 units, Dacia Sandero (1,089), Skoda Octavia (650) and Volkswagen Golf (439). 

By the type of fuel they are running on, gas-powered cars account for 52.5 pct of the total, while the market share of "green" cars (electric and hybrid vehicles) reached 2.4 percent; sales of electric vehicles increased 8.5 times, and hybrid car sales advanced 14.1 percent. 

By origins, 26.5 percent of the cars sold on the domestic market were from Romania; 24.1 percent from Germany; 12.6 percent from the Czech Republic; 6.2 percent from Spain and 5.6 percent from Turkey. Compared with the previous year, the deliveries of vehicles made in Romania increased by 42.7 percent, against a smaller increase of 18.4 percent in deliveries of imported cars.