Sales of cars on the domestic market revolved around 860 million euros in the first six months, according to ZF’s calculations, down more than 65% compared with the same time of last year, to a volume of about 70,000 units sold.
The decline in value, however, was more serious than the decline in volume, as the average price of imported cars fell by 15% as a result of the discount campaigns conducted by most dealers, as well as of the increase in the share of petrol-driven models in the total, which are cheaper than cars running on diesel.
In comparison, the market of cigarettes, which make up the largest consumer goods category in Romania, attracted more than 1.1 billion euros in the first half. In 2008, cars fared better, with sales of around 5 billion euros, while cigarettes stopped at 2.5 billion euros.
"In the case of Porsche Inter Auto (PIA), the average price of cars fell from 19,000 euros in 2008 to approximately 17,000 at the moment and we expect the decline to worsen to 15,000-16,000 euros in the second half," said Alin Tapalaga, general manager of Porsche Inter Auto, the retail division of Porsche Holding, which sells from models from Skoda Fabia, whose price is 8,000 euros, to Porsche and Audi models whose prices are close to 200,000 euros.
As for the total imported car market, players on the market say their prices fell by 15% on the average to approximately 14,000 euros this year, while Dacia’s prices kept constant at around 8,000 euros.
Sales of cars fell by approximately 50% in the first half of this year to 70,600 units, players on the market say. The decline of the overall vehicle market stood at over 55%, to a little more than 79,000 units.
"We will see an approximately 60% decline of the automotive market this year. We cannot estimate an exact volume because variables change from month to month. As for next year, the decline will slow down to 10-15%," said Mihai Bordeanu, Lexus manager for the Balkan region.
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