Romania February 2024: Dacia Duster takes control in negative market

The Dacia Duster is #1 in February and YTD. Next generation pictured.

New car sales in Romania drop -8.9% year-on-year in February to 11,340 units, tilting the year-to-date tally into negative at -2.6% to 24,073. Local behemoth Dacia (-30%) is hit hard and falls to 29.2% share vs. 38.1% in February 2023. In contrast Toyota (+18.6%) and Skoda (+1.5%) are in positive and complete the podium. Hyundai (-12%) ensures the Top 4 is unchanged on last month but falls faster than the market. Peugeot (+129.4%) skyrockets up to #10 with Mercedes (+4%) and BMW (+1.4%) also defying the negative market in the remainder of the Top 10. Renault (-43.4%) and Ford (-29.6%) implode.

Model-wise, the Dacia Duster (+8.8%) takes the lead with 10.9% share, its first win and highest share since November 2022 (11%). This result has no doubt a lot to do with discounted outgoing generation models. The Duster also snaps the YTD pole position, the first time the nameplate manages this. It is in fact the only Dacia in positive this month, with the Sandero (-68.5%), Logan (-32.9%), Jogger (-26.4%) and Spring (-19.5%) all rocked hard. The Skoda Octavia (+32%) slides into 5th place while the Hyundai Tucson (+24.3%) and Toyota RAV4 (+18.8%) deliver splendid scores. After rising to a record 5th place last month, the Tesla Model 3 (+900%) drops to #12 but still manages a surreal progression. It ranks #8 year-to-date vs. #36 over the Full Year 2023.

Previous month: Romania January 2024: Tesla Model 3 up to #5, market up 3.8%

One year ago: Romania February 2023: Market up 44.5%, 5 Dacias in Top 5

Full February 2024 Top 50 All brands and Top 290 All models below.