Carmaker Dacia, the third-largest company in Romania in terms of business, posted the highest sales in its entire history, 311,282 units in 2009, up 20.5% compared with the previous year. The result puts Dacia among the top brands on the European market by sales increase.
Taking into account an average value of 8,000 euros per each car sold, Dacia sales reached almost 2.5 billion euros last year.
The international economic context, the steps to aid car markets in Germany, France and Italy and the shift in consumers' preferences to the main function of a car, mobility, generated an over 20% increase in Dacia's sales. Will this happen again in 2010, considering Germany will no longer be running a scrappage scheme and subsidies were cut on other markets, as well?
"As far as export quotas to Western Europe are concerned, we cannot make estimates yet, because of the uncertainty of automotive markets. In Romania, on the other hand, I can estimate we will see the same volume as in 2009, and the market share will be preserved," said Fabrice Cambolive, Renault Dacia's commercial manager.
As far as Dacia is concerned, its sales on the domestic market halved in 2009, to 42,000, almost of half of which sold through the cash-for-clunkers scheme.
The commercial results of the previous year, however, are three times better than those in 2004, the year when the low-cost Logan was launched and revolutionised the automotive market, prompting almost every volume carmaker to prepare competing models.
Out of the total Logan family production designed for emerging markets, about 85% (270,000 units) were exported and more than 200,000 cars reached Western European markets according to Dacia officials' estimates. Dacia plans to boost exports in 2010 with the help of "Duster, which is a vehicle for all those who wanted a 4x4 but could not afford it. We can
