Romania October 2019: Dacia Duster and Sandero break share records in market surging 58.1%

The Dacia Duster hits a record 10.5% share at home in October.

The Romanian new car market continues to brilliantly recover from particularly weak year-ago post-WLTP figures with October sales shooting up 58.1% year-on-year to 10.649 units, leading to a year-to-date volume up 18.9% to 134.698. Homegrown brand leader Dacia (+94.5%) almost doubles its sales year-on-year to reach 34.7% share, markedly better than the 30.3% it commands YTD. Skoda (+6%) is up 3 spots on last month to #2, ahead of Ford (+23.7%), Hyundai (+48.2%) and Volkswagen (+14.5%). In the remainder of the Top 10, Nissan (+325.6%), Renault (+89.9%), Mercedes (+68.5%) and Toyota (+57.4%) are the most impressive, while further down Fiat (+545%), Citroen (+341.9%), Jeep (+255.6%), Seat (+195%), Smart (+150%), Mini (+121.4%), Land Rover (+100%), BMW (+93.3%) and Honda (+91.1%) stand out.

The Dacia Sandero is at its highest this decade at 8.1% of its home market.

Model-wise, the Dacia Logan (+48.6%) trails the market slightly but manages a 182nd consecutive month at #1 while the Dacia Duster (+176.2%) breaks its market share record at 10.5%, eclipsing the 10.3% it hit back in November 2014 and only the third time in history with February 2014 (10%) the Duster crosses the symbolic 10% market share milestone at home. The Dacia Sandero (+114.2%) is also very strong at 8.1% share vs. 5.5% YTD, its highest share this decade (smashing the 6.5% it reached in September 2013) and potentially ever, but the nameplate may have done better in 2008-2009 when the first generation launched. The Nissan Qashqai (+600%), Renault Megane (+512.2%), Toyota Corolla (+237.5%) and VW Golf (+68.4%) also outpace the market in the Top 10, while the Skoda Scala (#21) tops recent launches above the Citroen C5 Aircross (#40) and VW T-Cross (#44).

Previous month: Romania September 2019: Opel up 10-fold, Astra #3 in market bouncing back up 118.2%

One year ago: Romania October 2018: Volvo, Dacia Sandero resist in market at -32.9%

Full October 2019 Top 35 All-brands and Top 210 All-models below.