Approximately 90% of the total premium car registrations on thedomestic market are second hand models imported from WesternEurope, up from 70% in 2007.
The percentage of customers that bought a new Audi or Mercedes-Benzin the first seven months of this year is lower compared with thesame time of 2009, reveal the statistics of the Driving Licensesand Vehicle Registration Department, as more and more people choseto import a second hand car from Western Europe.
"There is a really wide gap between registrations of new and secondhand cars in the case of premium brands especially. The second handcars are usually almost new, up to five years old and are Euro 4compliant so as to minimise the registration tax," said NicolaeSorescu, head of the automotive division of the R`d`cini Group,which owns dealers of Opel, Chevrolet, Mazda and Suzukibrands.
The only exception on the premium segment is BMW, which went upfrom 7% new car registrations from January through July 2009 to 15%in the same time of 2010.
A premium car loses about 30% of its value in the first year, morethan a volume brand.
On the other hand, things are almost unchanged on the segment ofluxury cars, with prices above 100,000-200,000 euros, this year.The clients of such brands as Ferrari or Maserati continue to buynew models.
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