Vehicle sales in Romania will end 2024 up by 1.7% as compared to last year, for cars and 0.6% for light commercial vehicles, shows a PwC Autofacts report conducted in five Central European markets.The markets analysed in this report are Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Despite a 10.2% drop in car sales in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, this is the second consecutive quarter in which the 30,000 unit sales threshold has been exceeded, Autofacts shows. Dacia remains the best-selling brand. Tesla doubled its sales in the same period and climbed 11 places to enter the top 10. The first quarter of this year was very, very good for the car production in Romania, which increased by 7%, registering the second quarter of growth in a row. For the whole year, the production is expected to grow by 8.5%, determined by LCV. In the case of cars, the production is estimated to drop by 7.1%. At the level of the five states analysed, the cumulated sales would increase by 4.6% this year, all markets having a positive trend, Hungary having the highest leap, 8.7% against 2023. In exchange, the production of light vehicles on these markets will drop by 0.8% in 2024 against 2023. The evolution will be the result of the reduction by 4% of the car sector, despite the estimated increase of the light commercial vehicles market (+35%). At the level of the country, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the biggest production markets out of the five, will have production levels dropping by 1.6% and 3.5% respectively. The production of electrical vehicles in the analysed countries in Central Europe continues to grow, estimated at more than 15.6% in 2024 against 2023, while until 2030 a huge advancement is expected of 208.4%. In 2024, the BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) performance is expected to be weaker (-2.3%) while PHEV (Plug-in-Hybrid -+24% and FHEV – Full Hybrid - +27.9% compensates for the loss. At the country level, BEV will continue to be the most popular type of electrified series-production powertrain for four of the five markets (except Romania) from 2027. In Romania, there will be produced especially FHEV (full hybrid).
Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan stated during an interview on Wednesday, December 17, that there should be no statute of limitations in cases of serious corruption. The statement comes after a Recorder investigation, which showed that several heads of the major institutions in the Romanian justice system allegedly delayed trials for years until wrongdoings were […]
President Nicușor Dan has challenged, before the Constitutional Court (CCR), the constitutionality of the law that requires that at least 40% of the athletes who play on a team in official national competitions be Romanian. Dan noted that the law violates the principle of non-discrimination and the free movement of workers, enshrined both in the […]
Craiova International Airport will open its new passenger terminal on Thursday, December 18, completing a major infrastructure investment aimed at significantly expanding capacity and improving air connectivity in southwestern Romania. It is part of a broader expansion and modernization project financed through the Large Infrastructure Operational Programme (POIM) 2014–2020, with a total value exceeding EUR […]
Romania is set to be connected to the Western European energy network thanks to grid investments worth EUR 30 billion. The funds will be provided by the EU by 2035, and the project will link Romania to Hungary and Austria in a joint project. Romanian energy minister Bogdan Ivan signaled the signing of the new […]
Franck Bagouet has been appointed managing director of TotalEnergies Marketing Romania SA and managing director of Automotive Southeast Europe Hub TotalEnergies Marketing. He succeeds Didier Grimault, who has accepted a new position within the TotalEnergies company. “I am glad to join this dynamic affiliate and confident that, together with our talented team, we will reinforce […]
Databricks, the data analytics and artificial intelligence company co-founded by Romanian professors Ion Stoica and Matei Zaharia, announced on Tuesday, December 16, that it is raising USD 4 billion in funding at a valuation of USD 134 billion, according to CNBC. The new valuation represents a 34% increase compared to the August round, when Databricks […]
