Revenues from car servicing will drop by between 5 and 10% in the wake of the Government's decision to raise VAT to 24%, according to car dealers' estimates, while sales of new cars will be propped by the old car scrappage scheme. "Car parts will be more expensive, both on the raised VAT and the rising exchange rate and clients will think twice before taking their cars to a servicing centre," said Viorel Niculescu, controlling Land Rover and Jaguar dealer, ATT, and who previously held the position of general manager of Romcar, Ford importer domestically. This is the second blow servicing centres have been dealt, which are at present struggling to keep car centres afloat after sales plummeted by more than 70% from the 2008 level on the shrinking number of persons sealing comprehensive policies. Against the new background, car market players are no longer expecting a car sales rebound in the second half, but are now only hoping for stagnation, a pace that will not ensure a level of 100,000 units this year, after in the first five months the market lost over 30% from a year ago. The 5% VAT raise will drive up the average price of Dacia Logan by 300 euros, while a small car like VW Golf and Opel Astra will become 500 euros more expensive and a SUV or luxury car will cost over 2-3000 euros more.

Revenues from car servicing will drop by between 5 and 10% in the wake of the Government's decision to raise VAT to 24%, according to car dealers' estimates, while sales of new cars will be propped by the old car scrappage scheme. "Car parts will be more expensive, both on the raised VAT and the rising exchange rate and clients will think twice before taking their cars to a servicing centre," said Viorel Niculescu, controlling Land Rover and Jaguar dealer, ATT, and who previously held the position of general manager of Romcar, Ford importer domestically. This is the seco