Romania’s Dacia ended 2014 with a growth of almost 13 pc in terms of new car registrations in France

On a declining market, Dacia, considered a low-cost car brand, reported growing results in 2014, especially in Europe. The new registrations of Dacia in France increased by 12.9 percent last year, to 105,896 units, giving the Romanian brand a market share of 4.88 percent, according to Comite des Constructeurs Francais d’Automobiles Paris (CCFA) data, country’s main auto industry association.

In comparison, in 2013, Dacia had  a market share of 4.35 percent in France.

On the other hand, according to Renault data, Dacia saw its sales climb by 14.1 percent to 102,519 passenger car registrations in 2014. Taking a 5.7 percent share of the market (up seven-tenths of a point), the brand was solidly positioned in fifth place in Group’s top sales. Dacia’s popularity was driven by the continued success of the Sandero, the third top-selling passenger car to private motorists in France, and the Duster, which posted a 55.2 percent jump in sales to more than 40,000 units.

Romania has registered the third largest increase of new car registration in EU – 23.9 percent in the first 11 months of the year, in a growing European market, while Dacia had the most important advance with a high volume of sales of 27.1 percent to 331,762 units. In Romania, new car sales climbed to 64,577 units between January and November, from 51,141 units in 2013. Higher increases were registered by Portugal (34.5 percent) to 130,887 units and Ireland (29.4 percent) to 95,988 units, according to data published by the European Car Builders’ Association.

Dacia registrations grew to 331,762 units in the first 11 months compared to 261,016 in 2013. The French group Renault, the owner of Dacia had a sale increase of 14.3 percent in the first 11 months, to 1,121,024 cars. Renault is the third largest car producer in Europe.

2014 was not a good year in terms of car registrations for France, one of the largest western European auto markets, as region market outlook dims. According to CCFA data, France’s floundering economy pushed car sales 6.8 percent lower year-on-year in December.