Romania’s largest car maker, Dacia, was the best selling company in France in the first quarter of 2013.
In 2012, sales of new cars in the EU hit rock bottom after 17 years, and 2013 did nothing to reverse the trend, according to data from the Association of European Carmakers. With the exception of the UK, where registrations of new cars went up slightly, in the rest of the countries with tradition, such as Germany, Italy, France, registrations went down significantly.

In spite of this, Romania’s main car manufacturer, Dacia, bought several years ago by Renault, had the best performance on the French market, with about 25% more than in 2012. Here is Francois Roudier from the French Automobile Makers Committee:

Francois Roudier: “Dacia car sales were very good along the entire quarter, up 24%, and faring best are the recent models. The new Sandero was successful, the Lodgy also fared well, and the new Dokker is just emerging. We sold over 1,500 units, and the new Logan is arriving.”

Hyundai and Lexus also had important rises in sales, with 24 and 11% respectively. At the same time, Renault, which owns Dacia, had a 9% drop in sales. At the same time, its market share stats at over 24%, with 100,000 cars sold in the first quarter. The good evolution of Dacia cars meant that the Romanian brand grew from 3.6% in the first quarter of last year to 5.22%.

The model selling best in the Dacia range is the Sandero. It is in the top 10 best sellers, which are mostly French, besides the Golf and Polo Volkswagens. Globally, Dacia sales went up 4.8% compared to 2011, and the largest markets are France, Germany, Algeria, Turkey and Italy. Renault took over Dacia in 1999. In 2004 it had a resounding success with the Logan, and for the last eight years, the Dacia brand has gained notoriety on the European market.