After Dacia-Renault in Mioveni and Ford in Craiova, a new car manufacturer could enter Romanian market. Constantin Stroe (photo), Dacia Vicepresident and president of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers of Romania (ACAROM) said that, after two major setbacks with Mercedes and Jaguar, Romania can not afford another misfire, capital.ro informs.
According to him, a new auto manufacturer in Romania could come from Asia. Without to mention a particular manufacturer or a particular country, Stroe said that Asians, especially South Koreans, are very aggressive in expanding to Europe.
He said that, while the EU is in a “tax free” agreement with South Korea, Asians take advantage to massively sell in Europe. “South Koreans sell 800,000 units annually in the EU, while the EU only sells 120,000 units annually in South Korea,” Stroe said at a business meeting between French and Romanian companies on Tuesday.
He also said that the automotive industry can not accelerate without foreign direct investment, and France is the largest investor in this regard.
In his turn, French Ambassador to Romania, Francois Saint-Paul, noted that “France can bring real added value to the car industry in Romania, a country where the auto industry is a key sector of the economy, the engineering industry and auto parts manufacturing providing more than 200,000 jobs. However, the problem of infrastructure is absolutely essential for Romania’s economic growth.
In 2014, the entire auto industry in Romania has contributed with 12 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. Auto industry turnover reached last year, EUR 18 billion.