Romania 1997: Dacia leaps to record 86.7% share, monopolises podium

The Dacia 1310 holds 67.3% of the Romanian market in 1997.

New car sales in Romania mark a pause in 1997 at -1% year-on-year to 112.424 units. Local carmaker Dacia (+19.9%) tightens an already suffocating grip on its home market, improving by over 15 percentage points to hit a barely believable 86.7% share. Daewoo (-69.7%) completely implodes from 19.7% to just 6% share, while Aro (-40.6%) also crumbles to 2.3%. Volkswagen (+457.6%) and Fiat (+450.9%) are by far the most dynamic brands in the Top 10 this month but only manage 1.2% and 0.6% share respectively.

Over in the models ranking, the Dacia 1310 (+18%) is back in shape, gaining almost 11 percentage points of share vs. 1996 to a splendid 67.3%. The Dacia Pickup (+22.7%) steps up one spot to #2 and 14% share while the Dacia Nova (+39.7%) stretches its legs a little but still disappoints somewhat and is surely not the 1310 replacement Dacia was hoping for. Nevertheless, Dacia manages to monopolise the Romanian podium for the first time since we started tracking Romanian sales in 1995. The Daewoo Nexia (-75.4%) drops to #4 above the Aro 24 (-35.3%) up two spots on last year to get back inside the Top 5. The VW Vento leaps up 39 spots to #9 while the Daewoo Damas is the most popular new launch at #10.

Previous year: Romania 1996: Dacia crosses 70% share milestone in market above 100.000 units

Full Year 1997 Top 35 All-brands and Top 175 All-models vs. Full Year 1996 figures below.