Zoltan Brassai, chief operating officer of the National SalesCompany of Ford Romania, which took over the US brand's imports onAugust 1, still sees the domestic market as having the biggestpotential in CEE.
"Romania is the most promising market in the CEE. Why is that?There's a high level of training here, there are good schools,taxes are low and there's a flat tax and, of course, the country ispart of the European Union. If I were an investor, I'd invest inRomania now," said Brassai, in an interview with ZF.
"The fact that Hungary's market was double Romania's ten years agoand the situation is reversed now, demonstrates the potential ofthe market. This is why Ford decided to come to Romania instead ofHungary or Slovakia, the European country with the highestautomotive industry investments. I believe Ford's decision toinvest in Romania was better than Mercedes-Benz's decision to builda factory in Hungary," he added.
Starting August 1, Ford has been handling the import of the USbrand onto the Romanian market directly, so that almost all branddistribution contracts are being re-discussed with each car dealer.Part of them have already signed a contract with the National SalesCompany, but others are still in talks.
"At present, the Ford network of Romania is active in over 40locations and we're monitoring the current market conditions beforegoing ahead with our expansion plans," said Paul Flanagan, managingdirector of Ford's NSC a week ago.
According to Brassai, another four new Ford centres will be openedby yearend.
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