Ford Romania in November manufactured 300 Transit Connectutility vehicles, according to the statistical data provided by theAssociation of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) andthis is the first time the Americans appear in an officialstatistics report since they started production in September.
Though the plant's production in November amounted to 15 cars perday, a low pace compared with the 300,000-car annual volumeestimated after 2012, the plant's exports in November accounted for94% in overall output, showing that the Americans are upholdingtheir strategy of turning Ford Craiova into the second exportcentre in Romania.
By comparison, Dacia in November produced 1,429 units of Logan Van,which is part of the same segment as Transit Connect, while thetotal production of the Mioveni plant stood at 28,384 units, thatis almost 100 times more than Ford. Craiova-assembled models wereexported both to Western Europe on markets such as Great Britain,Germany or Italy, and to countries such as Bulgaria.
John Fleming, Ford Europe chairman, in September announced inCraiova that Ford Romania's production would this year rangebetween 1,000 and 2,000 units, a volume generated by Europeanmarket demand.
Romcar, Ford importer domestically, part of Tiriac Holdings,currently has around 50 Transit Connect models in stock, which FordRomania assembled in Craiova. These are due to be delivered todealers in the following period, according to the company'sofficials.
Vehicle exports in the first 11 months of this year surged by over56%, to 238,247 units, in which Dacia models produced in Mioveniaccount for 99.8%, and the rest is represented by Ford and RomanBrasov, according to APIA data.
The value of this year's vehicle exports will climb to 2.6bn euros,from 1.6bn euros in 2008, according to ZF estimates, while theirweight in Romania's overall exports doubled from 4.7% last year to10% in 2009.
On the Romanian market, vehicle sales dropped by 55% in the first11 months, to 138,098 units, according to APIA data.
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