The year 2002 was supposed to consolidate the Romanian car market, by a powerful increase in local car sales and a slowdown in the import growth recorded over the past few years. Even though the total market had been estimated at 125,000 cars early in the year, which would have accounted for more than 35% growth, there will be no more than 115,000 cars sold by yearend. "The increase in domestic-made car sales was below estimates, but the increase in the sales of imported cars exceeded our expectations," Marius Carp, executive manager of the Association of Carmakers and Importers in Romania (APIA) said. The car market went up 21% in the first eleven months of the year. The Romanian car sales rose more than 17% and the imported car sales increased 41%. The sales of Romanian cars had been expected to increase by more than 40%, due to the "Euro 3 effect", which should have seen the second-hand market shrink following the introduction of the mandatory Euro 3 pollution norms. Accordingly, part of the clients were supposed to shift to cars produced in Romania. "The large second-hand car stocks built at the end of last year lasted longer than anticipated," Carp says. The APIA official also mentions the lack of new offers from the local producers. "Under the circumstances, more and more potential buyers of Romanian cars chose to buy cheaper imported cars," Carp added. ZF
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