The turnover of the Romanian automotive industry rose by 10% in 2016 to EUR 22 billion, reaching 13% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The industry accounts for almost one quarter of Romania’s total exports, said Gabriel Sicoe, the new president of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers of Romania - ACAROM, reports local News.ro.

Automotive exports are very important for the Romanian economy, given that the domestic market absorbs only a small share of the domestically produced cars, said Sicoe.

"Automotive exports were about EUR 13 billion, 24% of Romania's total exports. On the domestic market, Dacia sold only 7% of the production, and Ford 1%", he said.

He added that the number of employees in the sector exceeds 206,000.

The new ACAROM president explained that the removal of the environment tax led to an annual increase of 200% in the registrations of used cars in the first two months of the year. The ratio between domestic new cars and used imported cars reached 1 per 33, Sicoe added.

He estimates that more than 500,000 used cars will be registered in Romania this year while new car sales will drop from 130,000 in 2016 to some 100,000 this year.

editor@romania-insider.com