Romanian Auto Mkt Ranks 14th In EU By 8-Mo New Car Registrations

Romania’s new car registrations declined nearly 60% in January-August, to 81,824 units from 201,870 units in the same period last year, while new car registrations in the European Union declined just 7.9%, to 9,328,743 units from 10,128,865 units in the first eight months of 2008, according to a report of the ACEA.

The Romanian auto market was overtaken by the Czech Republic, which posted a 9% increase in new car registrations, Sweden, which saw a 23.7% decline and Portugal, which saw a 32.1% decline.

According to data released last week by Romania’s Interior Ministry license and car registration division, new car registrations fell 59.4% on the year to 81,857 units in the January-August interval, from 201,915 units in the same period in 2008.

Germany kept its position as Europe’s biggest auto market, with a 26.8% increase in new car registrations in the first eight months, to 2,674,600 units from 2,110,089 units in the same period last year. Germany’s auto market was backed by its clunkers program, as the German government offered subsidies of up to EUR2,500 to people willing to scrap their old cars for new ones.

France and Italy rank second and third in the EU, with about 1.4 million new cars registered in the first eight months.