Romania August 2020: BMW (+4%) survives imploding market (-51.9%)

BMW (+4%) is the only Top 20 carmaker to post a gain in August.

As the second wave of coronavirus struck the country over summer, lifting total cases from 27.296 on July 1 to 91.256 at the time of writing this article and wrecking havoc on the economy and tourism again, the Romanian new car market tumbles down -51.9% year-on-year in August to just 11.155 units, pulling the year-to-date tally down -37.5% to 73.721. Atop the brands ranking, Dacia (-47.4%) and Volkswagen (-43%) manage to contain their loss below the symbolic 50% mark and add up to 41.7% of Romanian sales vs. 38.8% so far this year, Volkswagen also snatching the #2 YTD spot in the process. Toyota (-35%) and Citroen (-26.7%) also resist well but it’s BMW (+4%) that scores the best performance – and only year-on-year gain – in the Top 10. In contrast, Suzuki (-72.6%), Ford (-65.4%) and Renault (-59.6%) implode. DS (+1200%), Subaru (+700%), Tesla (+100%), Mini (+50%), Mitsubishi (+34%) and Alfa Romeo (+3.3%) are the only additional gainers.

Over in the models ranking, the Dacia Logan (-50.1%) celebrates 16 years or 192 straight months in the Romanian pole position, literally untouchable at 17.1% share vs. 13.9% so far this year. The Dacia Sandero (-30%) topples the Dacia Duster (-52%) for 2nd place year-to-date while the Renault Clio (-45.5%) and VW Golf (-31.4%) ensure the Top 5 is unchanged on July. The Toyota C-HR (-27.9%) posts the best hold in the Top 10, improving its ranking record to #8 vs. #10 last June, with the Hyundai i20 (-36.1%) also solid and the Suzuki Vitara (-73.9%) rallying up 10 spots on July to #6. The locally-made Ford Puma remains by far the best-selling recent launches but slides back out of the Top 10 at #11, it distances the Skoda Kamiq (#25), Mazda CX-30 (#42) and Kia Xceed (#80).

Previous month: Romania July 2020: Ford Puma (#9), VW Golf (+20.3%), Fiat Tipo (+138.5%) defy worsening market (-44.2%)

One year ago: Romania August 2019: Dacia Logan celebrates 15 consecutive years at #1 (180 straight months) in market down -18.8%

Full August 2020 Top 40 All-brands and Top 240 All-models below.