According to Romanian Environment Ministry, more than 160,000 cars older than ten years were scrapped in 2010 within Romania's clunkers program. Until 20th of August, 2010 there were bought over 35,000 new cars, of which 50% were produced on the local market. The 2010 clunkers program was allotted RON722,000,000, enough to scrap 190,000 old cars, the ministry added. The 2010 clunkers program started on February 18. In exchange for a scrapped... [...]

Volkswagen Group and Varta battery producer intend to accomplish the development of the lithium-ion batteries designed for electric automobiles, planning to achieve competitiveness by improving their technology and also their price, according to Automotive News Europe. The German competitionauthorities must give their agreement on the partnership between the two companies.   The first electrical vehicle produced by Volkswagen will be... [...]

The german company Mansory, specialized in luxury car tuning, opended a local dealership and expects turovers of EUR100.000 by the end of the year. In 2010, the company expect to double it’s tourovers. Businessman Irinel Columbeanu and football coach Cosmin Olaroiu are some of the company’s clients.   Romania is the 10th european country where Mansory has opened a dealership. The other countries are Germany, Switzerland, the... [...]

Romanian carmaker Dacia, the local unit of French Renault, reported a 17.1% increase in global sales, to 194,165 units, in the first nine months of the year, compared with 165,834 units in the same period a year ago, according to data offered by Renault. Of total sales, 181,081 vehicles were sold in the January-September period, up 15.4% on year, and 8,925 light commercial vehicles were sold during the same period, up 46.6% on year. Renault... [...]

Porsche Romania, local importer of Wolkswagen cars, launched the Scirocco hatchback, available in two petrol engines, at prices ranging between 21,603 euro and 24,808 euro, VAT included. The sales target for Scirocco, which is available exclusively with three-door hatchback body, is 60 units this year and some 250 units in 2009, Wolkswagen brand manager Matei Albulescu told Mediafax. The base engine of the new VW model develops 160... [...]

Romanian carmaker Dacia premiered the Logan MCV in the Paris Auto Show. The company also introduced the Logan eco2 concept and the 1.5 liter and 85 hp Sandero diesel, which will be launched in Romania early next year. The revamped Logan MCV has the interior and the front side similar to those of a revamped Logan Sedan, while the rear bumper has seen some slight tweaking. Automobile Dacia general manager Francois Fourmont told Mediafax late... [...]

Porsche Romania plans to sell 40 Bentley cars in 2009 and five cars this year, Brent Valmar, the company's president, said on Thursday in a press statement. Porsche Romania has officially launched the English manufacturer of luxury automobiles brand Bentley on the Romanian market on Thursday. The cars will be sold through the Bentley Bucharest unit. The company opened a temporary showroom in the company's showroom in northern Bucharest and... [...]

Porsche Romania will officially import and trade the luxury auto brand Bentley as of Thursday, the local unit's brand manager Adrian Pascu said on Tuesday. The official operations for Bentley brand start in a provisory showroom on around 200 square meters. It and will be transferred into a luxury showroom on 600 square meters as of the half of next year, next to Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini brands. Porsche Romania is the largest auto... [...]

Mercedes-Benz presented at the Auto Show from Detroit the Vision GLK Freeside, the company trying to show the way in which is headed the design of SUV in the next years. GLK  is a mixed between off-roader and a compact luxury car. [...]

Chrysler will market under own brand, on the South America market, a new small vehicle, with low consume of fuel, produced by the Japanese company Nissan. The new car will have at base the model Nissan Versa and will be delivered to the group Chrysler starting 2009. [...]

In the first five months of the year, the Romanian car market has dropped 49% regarding the number of new car registrations, to 26,351 units, the biggest drop in the European Union, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The biggest increase in the number of car registrations in the January-May interval was reported by Portugal (56.3%) and in May by Ireland (70.6%). The Romanian passenger car market fell by... [...]

In 2009, Romania’s car exports to Germany exceeded imports, moving from a trade deficit of EUR762.8 million on the auto sector in 2008, to a trade surplus of EUR306.4 million in 2009, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).   Germany became Romanian carmaker Dacia's main export destination, with 84,708 units sold last year, up 231.3% compared to 2008, according to the carmaker's data, so the trade deficit with... [...]

The first SUV of Romanian carmaker Dacia, The Duster, was launched today on the local market, at a starting price of EUR10,500."Duster will consolidate Dacia's international expansion and will allow us to bring in new clients, drawn by its robust and modern aspect, but also by the price to quality ratio," said Jerome Olive, General Manager of the company. Dacia Duster can be purchased in Romania at prices between EUR10,500 and... [...]

According to the European Carmakers Association ACEA, Romania’s auto market registered the sharpest decline in the European Union in February. The local market reported a 63% decline in the number of new car registrations compared to February 2009, while the EU market increased 3%. New car registration in Romania in February dropped to 2,658 units from 7,187 in February last year.   A total of 974,346 new cars were registered in... [...]

Duster, the new crossover SUV produced by Romanian carmaker Dacia, will enter the British market at the end of 2012, according to French carmaker Renault, owner of Automobile Dacia. The 4x2 Duster model will be sold on the British market at prices starting at EUR11,900 (GBP10,800). In Romania, Dacia Duster can be bought for prices ranging from EUR10,500 to EUR15,600 (including VAT) The new SUV will be available as of this spring on the... [...]