Out of the ten best-selling imported car brands, Romanian-held companies import only three - Ford, Hyundai and Peugeot, and by 2010, Hyundai may be the only one left on the list, reads BUSINESS Magazin.

When asked if he had any news about Mercedes and Ford, two brands introduced and represented by Ion Tiriac in Romania since 1990, the entrepreneur delightedly replied that in several weeks the location of the new Mercedes-Benz plant in Eastern Europe would become publicly known.

However, his tone changed when asked about Ford. He half-heartedly said he "lost the import", despite the fact that Romcar, the official importer of the US brand and part of Tiriac Group, forecast turnover worth 340m euros and a sales volume of 26,000 units. Only a few months after Ford finalised the acquisition of the plant in Craiova, the US carmaker is in talks with Ion Tiriac to acquire Romcar, sources on the car market say.

The contract is expected to be signed within the next three months, and in a year Ford will completely take over import operations, while Tiriac is expected to receive around 10-11m euros from the sale.

Ford Europe officials would not confirm the information, while Tiriac Auto representatives also declined to comment. However, what is more interesting is that it is not only Romcar that has caught the US group's attention, but the major dealers inside and outside Bucharest, as well.

Ford's direct arrival with its own import and distribution firm is part of a trend seen as normal by market analysts, given that the sales volume of new cars has more than tripled over the past 5 years. Renault, Mazda, BMW, Citroen and Daimler have all entered the Romanian market either through the acquisition of an importer already established on the market or via the creation of a parallel entity. The onslaught of international carmakers onto the Romanian mark