The Romanian industry of auto subassemblies may attract investments worth hundreds of millions of euros in the next few years, as the Western European producers of car components are looking for new ways to cut production costs.
The 21 suppliers that the Renault Group brought to the Romanian market for the Logan model have already invested more than 110 million euros in Romania. At the same time, many Western European groups have invested hundreds of millions of euros in partnerships with Romanian companies located in the country's central and western areas. The value of investments could go up another 400-500 million euros in the medium run, considering the interest voiced by the European manufacturers.
"We gave got requests from groups such as Ford Europe General Motors, Volkswagen and Audi. Ford officials will fly down here this autumn, and they have asked us to find them suppliers that they can team up with. The Romanian sector of auto parts can benefit from this avalanche of opportunities that is likely to last until 2008-2010," said Constantin Stroe, vice-president of Automobile Dacia carmaker and president of the Romanian Association of Car Constructors (ACAROM). Investments may also come from the already existing players, which have decided to extend their production operations.
"The suppliers that came here for Logan realised that it was more profitable to start production activities in Romania, where the labour costs are lower, but, at the same time, where all the facilities are in place in order to attain the same quality levels as those delivered by the Western European plants. Thus, companies such as Valeo and Euro APS have started to expand their Romanian-based operations and they will no longer produce parts just for Dacia-Renault, but also for other European manufacturers," Stroe added.
The same pattern has already been applied by other traditional Renault suppliers - Johnson Controls and Auto Chassis International, which have said they are looking to expand their production capacities in Romania.
"Other historical suppliers of big European producers are also interested in starting production in Romania. There are six companies from FIM (Federation of Mechanical Industry, i.e.) that are looking to grow in Romania and have contacted us to find them a partner. I can only give you one name - Monroe, which is interested to start manufacturing shock absorbers on the Romanian market," Stroe stated.
So far, 21 traditional Renault suppliers have come to Romania for the Logan model, with 14 of these companies located on the Dacia platform in Pitesti and the rest in various Romanian cities. At the same time, 21 Romanian suppliers are working with Renault for the Logan model. "They are the ones that managed to catch the first train and to adapt to the Western European demands," Constantin Stroe maintained.
The migration trend of European auto parts producers towards Romania may also benefit the suppliers that will no longer work for Dacia, once the Dacia 1300 model is out of production.
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