Romanian car producer Automobile Dacia and its affiliated company Renault Commercial Roumanie, both part of French group Renault, will withdraw from the Romanian Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA).

This is a big blow for the APIA as Dacia and Renault had a cumulated market share of 38% of the total sales of new passenger cars in Romania, in 2016. Dacia is the market leader, with over 35,000 units sold last year, or 31% of the total passenger car sales, which reached 115,000 units.

The conflict between the two parts stemmed from Romania's Cash-for-Bangers (Rabla) program. Dacia and Renault strongly supported the program, where the two brands record important sales, whereas several importers opposed the program, reports local Ziarul Financiar.

Importers don’t support the scrappage program because it has never had an exact starting time. Rabla generates large sales in a short time, so that dealers must have these cars in stock to take advantage of the program. As cars in the stock are financed by banks, keeping them for several months generates large additional costs. However, Dacia has its own plant in the country, so it can deliver the cars anytime.

editor@romania-insider.com