Sales of carmaker Dacia in 2008 did post an 11.7% increase compared with the previous year, to more than 257,000 units, but did not match the estimate for the financial year, which had been initially set at 300,000 units.
The increases of the previous years, of more than 17% were no longer possible with the introduction of the second version of the registration tax, which hit local sales in the second half, compounded by the overall decline of the European automotive market at the end of the year, caused by the worldwide financial crisis.
According to ZF's estimates, Dacia's sales reached 2.45 billion euros in 2008, 23% more than in 2007, when sales were close to 2 billion euros. The calculation was done using an average price of 8,500 euros per each car sold domestically and of 10,000 euros per each car sold abroad.
"It's true that sales in Romania went down, and the main reason is the introduction of the auto tax. There are lots of second-hand cars sold on the domestic market and unless steps are taken, Romania risks becoming Europe's dustbin," stated Jacques Daniel, Automobile Dacia and Renault Romania during the conference where he announced the company's results for 2008.
In 2008, Dacia's sales in Romania fell to 84,708 units from almost 102,000 units in 2007. The sales of the company declined in the last few months of the year, with the worst drop witnessed in December, when Dacia sold 3,600 cars, 55% less than in the same time of the previous year.
"I don't think that a Euro 4 car has to be taxed just because it is registered for the first time in Romania. Our worst problem are the imported junk cars that risk turning Romania into Europe's dustbin," Daniel added.
Dacia's official said that no definite forecasts had been made yet about the trend of sales this year, but figures were expected to rebound in the coming months. To drive sales and the renewal of the Dacia commercial range, he announced two new engine versions for Sandero, a model launched last summer and the launch of the SUV model for the end of the year.
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