Automotive market reports steepest decline in the EU in February


Romania reported in February the steepest decline of the number of new passenger vehicle registrations in the EU– 63 per cent compared to February 2009, in the context in which the EU automotive market was up 3 per cent. The local automotive market however did a little better than in January, when the number of registered new passenger vehicles had fallen by 84.6 per cent, according to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), Mediafax informs. A total of 2,658 passenger vehicles were registered in February, compared to 7,187 registered in February the year before. The number of registered new Dacia cars, on the other hand, experienced the highest annual growth in Europe (EU and EFTA – Island, Norway and Switzerland) – 45.5 per cent up to 17,491 units. The Romanian automobile manufacturer’s market share was up 1.8 per cent in February. In the case of Dacia owner Renault Group, the total number of registered new cars was up almost 30 per cent to 108,150 units, and its market share was also up from 8.8 per cent in February 2009 to 11.1 per cent in February 2010. In February, Italy was the biggest new passenger vehicle market in the EU with a total of 200,000 registered units.


Pirelli to invest EUR 300 M in several countries including Romania in 2010


Pirelli is due to invest EUR 300 M in the coming few months to increase production capacity in China, Egypt, Romania and South America, the company’s automotive tyre division General Manager, Francesco Gori, told ‘Il Giornale’, quoted by Reuters, in turn quoted by Mediafax. Gori said Europe’s third biggest automotive tire manufacturer in terms of market capitalization, Pirelli, had reported a two-digit sale volume rise on the entire market in Q1 2010 compared to the poorer performance in Q1 2009.


New BMW 5 Series Sedan in Romania
from EUR 42,600


This week BMW Romania will officially launch the new BMW 5 Series Sedan, with prices ranging from EUR 42,600 to EUR 71,400, VAT included. According to the company’s website, the model has four engine options (two gasoline engines and two diesel engines ranging from 204 HP to 407 HP), HotNews.ro informs. Thus, gasoline engines range from 3-liter 204 HP, 258 HP and 306 HP and the 4.4-liter, 407 HP top versions. The prices for start from EUR 42,661 (VAT included) for cars with gasoline engines and reach EUR 71,400 for the top version.


Mansory G-Couture
automobile, available
for EUR 500,000


G-Couture, an automobile produced in a limited series of just seven units by German company Mansory, specialised in modifying luxury cars, will be available in Romania at a price tag of EUR 500,000 without taxes, in the second half of the year. Mansory opened its local office in July 2009, but will inaugurate its showroom this spring, the general manager of the luxury car dealer, Andrei Marton told Mediafax. G-Couture has a body made largely of fiber carbon. The model was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show


Transport Ministry contracts under Parliament scrutiny


Senate’s Standing Bureau yesterday set up a special commission to look into the contracts awarded by the Ministry of Transport, Agerpres reports. The proposal came from opposition Social Democrat lawmakers. According to the document, the investigation commission is supposed to check conditions in which agreements were concluded and subsequently amended in connection with the following projects: Transylvania Motorway, Moara Vlasiei – Ploiesti motorway sector as well as modernisation and improvement works for several national roads. The commission will also seek to identify the reason why the Deva – Orastie motorway development project has not started. One of the initiators of the project, PSD Senator Sorin Bota asked for checks to be expanded to the Transport Ministry’s External Financing Directorate activity and national Roads Company departments in charge of EU funds.


Advance profit tax payment postponed until 2015


The enforcement of advance corporate profit tax payment will be postponed until 2015, leading to an extra budgetary income of RON 625.7 bn (0.12 per cent GDP) this year, according to a draft emergency ordinance posted to the Finance Ministry’s website, Mediafax reports. The postponement has been considered in order to keep the difference between estimated and actual tax in private economy, which is expected to have a positive effect on the business environment by putting tax payment capability in correlation with the tax-payer’s current financial results.


Fiscal strategy ready by May 20


The Government ahs set up a working group made up of ministers to agree on the country’s fiscal strategy by May 20. The members of the working group are the following ministers: of finance (chairman of the group), administration, transport, environment, education, defence, economy, agriculture, labour and justice; the presidents of the National Health Insurance Fund, the National Social Security Fund, the National Employment Agency, the National Prognosis Commission, the National Statistical Institute and the General Secretariat of the Government, Mediafax informs. Representatives of the social partners and academia will be included in the sector working groups, a Government decision says.


Bucharest ranked 36th in world industrial space expenditure chart


Bucharest industrial space rents remained EUR 48/sq m in 2009, but the city went up two slots into the 36th place in the world’s 49 most expensive cities in point of industrial space tenancy costs, according to Cushman & Wakefield. At the end of 2009, the annual costs associated with the occupancy of industrial space in Bucharest including rent and other expenses were of EUR 57/sq m, down from EUR 60 in 2008, where EUR 48 was the rent, according to the ‘Industrial Space 2009’ survey prepared by the real estate consultancy. Cushman & Wakefield anticipate a mild rise in the demand for industrial space, mostly for smaller-size properties from 1,000 sq m to 2,500 sq m.


ONRC: over 4,000 companies entered insolvency in Jan. and Feb.


The number of companies that entered insolvency procedures topped 4,100 in the first two months of this year, up 35 per cent from the year earlier period, according to data supplied by the National Trade Register Office (ONRC). Last February, 2,022 joined the pack, slightly fewer than their January 2,082 counterparts. In the two months combined, 3,049 enterprises filed for bankruptcy, of which 1,540 in January and 1,509 in February respectively. Over 40 per cent of the enterprises concerned are trade companies, more than 16 per cent come from the manufacturing sector, and over 15 per cent are in the construction business.


RON 1.6 M for consultancy on expropriations
for Lugoj-Deva highway


The National Company for Highways and National Roads (CNADNR) wants to organize a RON 1.6 M tender for consultancy services, judicial assistance and representation on expropriations needed in order to build the Lugoj-Deva highway section, plots 6 and 9. According to a CNADNR release, the estimated value of the contract for plot 6 is RON 120,000 without VAT, while that of the contract for plot 9 is RON 1.48 M without VAT.