9 Ianuarie 2009

AAA Auto Romania reports sagging sales in 2008

Czech dealer of used cars AAA Auto reported 45.6% fewer car deliveries in Romania, compared to a year earlier, the company following to make a decision on selling a portion of the Romanian branch at the end of February.

“We are still talking on the issue. Selling a portion of Romanian branch remains a viable option. However, we will make a decision by the end of February”, said Martin Emes, director of stock and pricing told Wall-Street.

AAA Auto sold 2,642 cars in Romania in 2007.

“We have been affected by various factors. We are witnessing a collapse of the car industry, and the sales have been influenced also by the relocation of the company to Bucharest-Pitesti motorway. In addition, natural persons’ massive imports of second-hand cars had a contribution to our negative sales report”, Ermes added.

Director of stock and pricing of AAA Auto hopes to see a recovery of sales.

“We had a right-foot year start; we sold almost four cars a day. We hope to see a recovery of sales starting with March this year. We hope for a better year, whereas there are many negative signals in the market”, said Ermes.

Some 399 cars of AAA Auto sales in Romania were purchase on loan, namely 28% of the deliveries.

The car dealer’s credit partners are BRD, Banca Transilvania, Cetelem, Credit Europe, and GE Money.

Clients are now choosing cost-effective cars. Most popular cars in Romania are Dacia Logan, Daewoo Matiz, Chevrolet Spark and Skoda Fabia.

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