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. [...]

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... [...]

Almost 10% of car parts from the Romanian automotive market are counterfeited, Jean Francois Martin, quality and service manager with French automaker Renault, said today. Amongst these more common are car body parts and braking and directional control systems. According to Martin, trades of counterfeit car parts trigger damages of EUR5 million per year for Renault.   But the volume of seized counterfeit car parts was down nearly seven... [...]

Romanian car maker Dacia announced that the Duster model will be launched, in two versions, 4X2 and 4X4, in Europe, Turkey, Algeria and Morocco in spring next year. Starting June 2010 the model will also be available, under the Renault brand, in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa.   Duster will be produced at the car plant at Mioveni, Romania, and, starting with 2011, the model will also be made in Brazil and Russia.   Dacia... [...]

The Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association, or APIA, announced that the sales of new cars in Romania dropped 54.3% on the year to 101,770 vehicles in the first nine months. Last year, between January and September, new car sales stood at 222,997 units.   In September alone, new car sales were down 2.8% on the month to 9,342 units, APIA said.   Romania's overall auto market (including cars, commercial vehicles and... [...]