The share of Dacia in the sales of the Renault group in the European Union has gone up from 13% to 19% in the first eight months of the year as a result of the increase in the sales of the local producer by 30% during this period, the data of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reveal. Dacia sold over 160,000 cars to European Union countries from January through August, 30.8% more than in the same time last year, while Renault witnessed a 14.8% sales decline to 679,000 units. The increase in Dacia sales is based on exports, given that the local new car market saw one of the steepest declines in the first eight months of the year, 59.5%. During the same period, the automotive market in Germany, Dacia's main export market, went up by 26.8%, with Austria and France seeing growth, too, by 5.5% and 1.1%. In all, the European market of new cars fell by 8.1% to 9.5 million cars sold in the first eight months, according to the same ACEA data.