Romanian Environment Minister Laszlo Borbely said Thursday that the 2011 edition of the national cash-for-clunkers program will begin on March 18 and will be open to public bodies, which were banned from buying new cars in 2010. read more...

Premium cars, with prices that start from over 20,000 euros, went up twice as fast as the market, despite volumes being half what they were in the same period of 2008. read more...

Employees of Romanian carmaker Automobile Dacia got a wage raise of 260 lei (EUR1=RON4.2065), or 13%, under the new collective work contract, Dacia union vice-president Ion Iordache told MEDIAFAX Tuesday. read more...

Vehicle sales to individuals fell significantly in February, because they are waiting for the car scrappage scheme, which has been delayed for the third time until March 20th, with the market now exclusively relying on firms. read more...

French group Renault, owner of Romanian carmaker Dacia, plans to increase the number of Dacia car sale points in France, from 60 to over 200 by 2013, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. read more...

Dacia Duster has received 3 stars in the Euro NCAP (European road safety authority) tests, according to specialized website 4Tuning. The source notes this makes Duster pale in comparison with other low cost SUVs such as Mitsubishi ASX, Nissan Qashqai or Hyundai ix35, which received five stars. read more...

Forza Rossa, Ferrari importer on the Romanian market, controlled by Ion Bazac, former health minister from PSD (Social Democratic Party), will deliver over 30 cars this year, worth over 7.5 million euros in total, according to ZF calculations. read more...

Romanian new passenger car sales rose 16% on the year, to 4,399 units in January, the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association, or APIA, said Friday. read more...

The Romanian car market reached an overall volume of over 5,400 vehicles, up nearly 25% against the similar period of last year, the first rise recorded in three years. read more...

The Dacia Duster, Volkswagen Tiguan and Ford Kuga were the best sold SUVs on the Romanian market in 2010, with the Duster far in the lead, thanks to a market share of almost 40%, according to the data of the Romanian Car Producers and Importers Association (APIA). read more...

Registrations of Romanian Dacia cars in France increased by 2.5% in January 2011 compared to the same month last year, to 7,749 units, and the overall French car market climbed 8.2%. read more...

Ion Ţiriac, Gheorghe Dolofan and Michael Schmidt, the last Romanians to hold companies with several tens or hundreds of millions of euros in turnover on the Romanian auto market, sold nearly 16,800 cars last year, with nearly one in six cars sold on the Romanian market originating from one of the three businessmen. read more...

Romania's car park grew last year by 1.8%, to more than 5.42 million vehicles, including 4.3 million passenger cars, 6.4% higher than in 2009, according to the data of the Interior Ministry's Driving License and Vehicle Registration Department (DRPCIV). read more...

International Automotive Components Group, IAC, one of the main suppliers of car parts for Ford Motor Company will invest 58 million euro in a factory at Bals, Olt county. read more...

Higher fuel prices will have tow main effects on Romanian drivers, who are expected to use their cars less and get cars that are more fuel-efficient, Brent Valmar, vice-president of the Romanian carmakers and importers association (APIA), said Monday. read more...

Car sales recorded an around 19% decline in 2010, according to statistics of the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA), to nearly 120,000 units, with the rate of decline being almost three times lower than the 2009 one. read more...

New cars bought through the 2010 car fleet renewal program were acquired for an average of 2.8 vouchers for a new car; the total number of new vehicles was 63,000, out of which 27,000 represent domestic car-makes, Environment and Forests Minister Laszlo Borebely told a press conference in Medias, Sibiu County (central Romania), on Friday. read more...

Romania's Government will reduce the depreciation rate, which is a partial discount on the car tax granted to buyers of used cars depending on their state, extra features and mileage, so the tax on such cars will be higher as of 2011. read more...

The overall average costs entailed by using the car, the taxes and insurance for a new car amount to at least 124 euros per month, i.e. close to Romania's minimum wage, in the case of a Dacia Logan model with the weakest engine, and can exceed 800 euros for the owners of saloon cars such as Mercedes, a sum that can cover rent of a three-room luxury apartment in central Bucharest, shows a ZF survey. read more...

Romania is the 16th largest auto market in the European Union by new car registrations in 2010, whose number dropped three times more abruptly locally than in the EU, according to data released Friday by the European Carmakers Association ACEA. read more...