Romania March 2020: Peugeot (+44.8%), Hyundai (+2.5%) defy market down -32.2%

Peugeot 308 sales are up 13-fold year-on-year in Romania in March.

Following the spread of COVID-19 in the country, Romania declared a state of emergency on March 16, a national lockdown on March 24 and a total quarantine for the northeastern town of Suceava and eight adjacent communes, home to 1/4 of the country’s confirmed cases and 2/3 of all infected medical personnel. In 2020 Romanian new car sales were already reeling from boosted year-ago figures and March is worse at -32.2% year-on-year to 6.654 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -21.9% to 27.979.

Homegrown brand leader Dacia (-39.5%) is once again hit harder than the market, seeing its share thaw to a still ultra-dominant 25.4%. Skoda (-19.4%) and Volkswagen (-11.5%) do well in context and ensure the podium is identical to February. At #4 Hyundai (+2.5%) brilliantly posts the only year-on-year gain in the Top 7 and is joined by Peugeot (+44.8%) and Mercedes (+8.5%). In contrast Renault (-63.6%) and Ford (-55.2%) straggle mightily. Further down the ranking, Lamborghini (+300%), Porsche (+78.6%), Ssangyong (+66.7%), Citroen (+50%), Ferrari (+50%) and Seat (+25.5%) post the only additional gains in the Romanian market for the month.

Model-wise, the Top 4 is unchanged on last month and YTD: the Dacia Logan (-54%) enjoys a 187th straight monthly win (no interruption since its launch back in September 2004), distancing the Dacia Duster (-18.5%), Sandero (-49.5%) and Skoda Octavia (-35.8%). The Dacia Dokker (+71.8%) surges 5 spots on last month to #5 but the best March performer is by far the Peugeot 308 (+1208.3%) shooting up 13-fold on March 2019 and 15 ranks on February to land at #6 and 2nd best-selling foreign nameplate. The VW Tiguan (+28.3%) also stands out with a gain in the Top 10 but the Renault Clio (-75%) and Ford Focus (-57.8%) crash. The Skoda Scala (#13) tops recent launches above the Hyundai Elantra (#20), Citroen C5 Aircross (#25), Skoda Kamiq (#32), Ford Puma (#41) and Mazda CX-30 (#47).

Previous month: Romania February 2020: Dacia down -45.8%, Hyundai up 6.8% in market down -26.8%

One year ago: Romania March 2019: Dacia (+47.5%), Renault (+119.7%) excel in market up 20.8%

Full March 2020 Top 38 All-brands and Top 210 All-models below.