Ford Romania in November manufactured 300 Transit Connect utility vehicles, according to the statistical data provided by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) and this is the first time the Americans appear in an official statistics report since they started production in September.

Though the plant's production in November amounted to 15 cars per day, a low pace compared with the 300,000-car annual volume estimated after 2012, the plant's exports in November accounted for 94% in overall output, showing that the Americans are upholding their strategy of turning Ford Craiova into the second export centre in Romania.

By comparison, Dacia in November produced 1,429 units of Logan Van, which is part of the same segment as Transit Connect, while the total production of the Mioveni plant stood at 28,384 units, that is almost 100 times more than Ford. Craiova-assembled models were exported both to Western Europe on markets such as Great Britain, Germany or Italy, and to countries such as Bulgaria.

John Fleming, Ford Europe chairman, in September announced in Craiova that Ford Romania's production would this year range between 1,000 and 2,000 units, a volume generated by European market demand.

Romcar, Ford importer domestically, part of Tiriac Holdings, currently has around 50 Transit Connect models in stock, which Ford Romania assembled in Craiova. These are due to be delivered to dealers in the following period, according to the company's officials.

Vehicle exports in the first 11 months of this year surged by over 56%, to 238,247 units, in which Dacia models produced in Mioveni account for 99.8%, and the rest is represented by Ford and Roman Brasov, according to APIA data.

The value of this year's vehicle exports will climb to 2.6bn euros, from 1.6bn euros in 2008, according to ZF estimates, while thei