What cars do heads of multinationals drive?

Ziarul Financiar 07.09.2009

Heads of multinationals on the Romanian market drive a VW Touareg or top-of-the-range versions of the VW Passat, while top managers (marketing managers, financial managers, sales managers) get an Audi A4 or a VW Passat to drive to work, according to data of a salary survey conducted by human resources consulting company Mercer this year. Middle management teams drive VW Golfs or lower-range VW Passat versions. The starting price is 16,000 euros VAT-less, but it can reach up to 26,000 euros. The most expensive VW Touareg model costs around 68,000 euros. The pressure on cost cuts has prompted many companies to seek to reduce expenses associated with managers' benefits scheme. "All companies have revised contracts for the cars they made available to their employees. A manager who drove an Audi A6 last year uses the same car this year. However, statistics say employers have started to provide cheaper cars to their new employees in 2009, " says Oana Datki, country manager of Consulteam, Mercer's local partner. The share of companies that offer benefits to their employees (medical insurance or gym memberships) has remained more or less unchanged compared with last year. What has changed is the number of companies granting loans to employees under favourable conditions.