In 2007, Porsche Romania, Renault, as well as Toyota and Honda all posted growth rates that exceeded initial estimates, which took last year's overall growth rate for car imports to over 50%.
Porsche Romania, the biggest importer on the domestic market and the representative of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche, in 2007 posted a sales increase of above 35% year-on-year, to 58,790 units, up over 10,000 cars against forecasts made at the beginning of the year, and 2,000 more than the level estimated at the beginning of December. The best-selling Volkswagen-Audi Group brand was Skoda, with 24,854 units, up over 21% year-on-year.
Porsche Romania network is spread across 90 locations, which includes twelve units set up last year, with another nine to be added this year. Around 5,400 persons are employed across the network, with another 315 to be hired this year.
The turnover generated from the sale of passenger cars is expected to exceed 930 million euros this year, according to ZF estimates, which, cumulated with after-sales services and sales of VW commercial vehicles, will drive the importer's turnover to around one billion euros.
Renault Romania, importer of the brand with the biggest sales domestically, last year registered sales of 31,200 units, which included 29,000 passenger cars.
The increase Renault witnessed last year stood at 32.7% against the sales volume reached during the previous year, when 23,500 cars were sold.
Renault-Nissan Romania generated turnover worth around 500 million euros, according to ZF estimates.
In terms of sales growth in 2008, Renault Romania counts on Romanian consumers' switching to hatchback models from sedans and on the launch of the new generation of the Laguna model and Koleos SUV.
Renault's network currently includes 52 retail locations owned by 39 dealers. This year, Renault representatives expect the launch of four new showrooms, which would require investments worth between 1 and 5m euros, depending on the size of the dealer.
General Motors Romania, the third largest importer domestically in terms of units, at the end of last year registered cumulated growth of 69.2% for the Opel brand, and reached total sales worth 19,696 units, while its market share advanced from 3.9% to 5.5%.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
