Cars: Although car park in Central and Eastern Europe is getting old, drivers delay replacing vehicles

The average age of vehicles in Central and East European countries has reached or exceeded 12 years. However, most drivers do not consider that their vehicles are old, while 44% say their cars are “no longer new, still they are not old,” according to a study made by MOL Group, based on answers of over 1,700 members of MOL Move loyalty program from Hungary, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, Serbia and Slovenia and analysed car maintenance and the attitude toward premium fuels.   EU official data show an average vehicle age of 15 years in Hungarym 15.5 years in Romania, 15.1 in Slovakia and 16.2 in Czechia. However, the reported car estimates are significantly lower in all countries, suggesting that many drivers either underestimate or ignore the real age of their cars. In Romania, only 20 % of respondents think their vehicles are old – although about 47% of them are driving cars more than 10 years old.   The study also showed that about half of drivers in the area do not intend to change their cars in the next five years, regardless of the vehicle age. One out of ten respondents (10%) declared they could not afford even minor repairs. That lack of financial flexibility and delaying maintenance present significant risks for road safety, the authors of the study show.   In Romania, 58% of drivers say they are doing everything they consider would help car maintenance, 18% more than most respondents. Moreover, half of Romanian respondents choose premium fuel for at last four out of ten filling ups. Only 13% do not use premium fuel, significantly fewer than the area average (27%).   MOL Group is an integrated international company for oil, natural gas, petrochemistry and retail, based in Budapest, Hungary. It has operations in 30 countries, a dynamic work force made of 250,000 employees in the whole world and over 100 years of experience in the industry. MOL Group controls three refineries and two petrochemical units in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia. The company also has a network of 2,400 service stations in ten Central and South-East European countries.   MOL Romania has been present in Romania for 30 years, is operating 236 service stations at national level, two fuel storages in Giurgiu and Tileagd and a GPL terminal in Tileagd.