Inhabitants of counties with above-average incomes are buying upper price segment cars such as Volkswagen, Skoda or Ford, while Renault has won over regions with lower wages.

Volkswagen leads in Transylvanian counties, with Renault close behind it, while in Muntenia and in counties of Moldova Renault clearly leads in terms of imports in the first ten months of this year, according to statistical data provided by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA).

ZF has centralised data referring to the best selling car brand in each county and has only taken into account sales of new imported cars.

Against last year, in counties such as Bacau or Maramures Renault dethroned VW. The same situation occurred in several counties, with upper price segment brands being replaced by more affordable ones.

"It could only be expected that Renault would take VW's place among the best selling brands because of its lower prices," says Nicolae Sorescu, manager with Radacini Motors, Opel and Chevrolet dealer.

Ford, the second biggest carmaker domestically, retained the leading positions in terms of import brands in Timis and Satu Mare counties.

On the other hand, in Bucharest it was Hyundai that boasted the biggest sales, with 6,845 units, followed by Kia with 5,004 and Ford with 3,837. In 2008, Hyundai and Kia were not among the three best-selling brands.

In terms of overall sales, the best-selling brand, in all counties, was Dacia, both in 2008 and 2009, except Brasov, where Skoda outran the domestic carmaker in 2008. The wealthiest counties of Romania generally opted for German brands, except Bucharest.

In Bucharest, where the average wage will climb to 511 euros this year from 460 euros in 2008, over five more new cars than used ones were registered and over four times in the first half of the year.

At the same time