Romania October 2021: Dacia Spring up to #4 in market down -23.3%

The career of the Dacia Spring has now started for good in Romania.

The Romanian new car market drops -23.3% year-on-year in October to 9.608 registrations, which means the year-to-date tally is now up just 0.8% at 97.861 units. Local behemoth Dacia (-33.2%) loses one third of its year-ago volume but its market share remains superior to its year-to-date level at 28.1% vs. 27%. Once again Hyundai (+55.9%) and Toyota (+30.1%) are completely immune to the surrounding gloom and post outstanding year-on-year upticks to complete the podium. Note Hyundai is back above Toyota in the year-to-date order. If Renault (-36.2%) struggles, Volkswagen (+20.9%) manages to keep its loss just below the market rate as does Ford (-5.7%) but unlike Skoda (-54.2%) in complete freefall. Kia (+83.9%), Mercedes (+30.1%) and Peugeot (+24.5%) also ignore the depleted context to score stellar gains. Below, Tesla (+633.3%), Ssangyong (+175%), Seat (+55.8%), Lexus (+33.3%), Citroen (+24.5%), Land Rover (+23.1%) and Volvo (+19.2%) also impress.

Over in the models ranking, the Dacia Logan (-35.6%), Sandero (-34.2%) and Duster (-49.7%) all fall faster than the market and lose share year-on-year, but the event of the month is just below. The new Dacia Spring EV makes it four Dacias in the Top 4 for the first time as it hold 2.9% share for its first true month of sales “at home” albeit imported from China. It will be fascinating to observe the Spring’s evolution over the next few months and gauge its potential in a market that hasn’t responded too fondly to the EV offer so far. The Renault Clio (-33.1%) is the best-selling non-Dacia model this month ahead of the Hyundai Tucson (+29.5%) sporting the best gain in the Top 10 while the Ford Puma (-15.9%) slides down three spots to #7. The Renault Captur (-40.4%) is in difficulty year-on-year but springs up 40 spots on last month to #8. Notice also the Toyota RAV4 (+48.4%) and C-HR (+13.7%) in excellent shape. 

Previous month: Romania September 2021: Hyundai, Toyota ignore market off -17.8%

One year ago: Romania October/November 2020: Renault, Jeep, Suzuki, Fiat stand out in positive market

Full October 2021 Top 40 All-brands and Top 240 All-models below.