September, the second 'positive' month for car market

Car sales in September advanced by almost 4% from a year ago, according to the statistical data provided by car market players, to almost 9,800 cars. September is the second month this year bringing a positive result, after June, when the market rose by almost 10% amid clients' rushing to buy cars before the VAT hike from 19% to 24% on July 1.

"These are the last weeks of REMAT (car scrappage) scheme, and we expect the market to revolve around 10,000 cars and light commercial vehicles this month. The market is not as strong as we had originally estimates, but we expect car sales to grow further in October," said Fabrice Cambolive, commercial manager of Dacia, Renault and Nissan brands. This year, the old car scrappage scheme ends on November 24.
In the first nine months of this year, car sales fell by around 25% to almost 86,700 vehicles. Should the same trend maintain by yearend, around 110,000 vehicles will be sold this year, of which less than 100,000 cars. Thus, the weakest car sales in the past eight years will be registered this year.