Romania surpassed Hungary and Poland last year, becoming the eighth-largest car producer in the European Union. However, Romania is still far behind the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to the latest report of the European car producers’ association ACEA published on February 28, quoted by Hotnews.ro.

Romania’s car production soared by 30% to 471,711 units in 2018, driven by the fast increase in the output of the Ford factory in Craiova, but also by the robust demand for Duster, the flagship model produced by Renault's local subsidiary Dacia in Pitesti.

Meanwhile, Hungary's car production declined by 3.7%, to 461,000 units and Poland's output was under 365,000 units, almost 15% lower than in 2017. The Czech Republic produced 1.4 million units and Slovakia over 1 million units.

Overall, car production in the European Union decreased by 2.1% compared to 2017, to 16.1 million units. Germany is the largest manufacturer with 4.9 million cars, followed by Spain with 2.1 million.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook / Ford Romania)