Romania to Offer Tax Exemption for Cars

10/24/96

Reuters reports that Romania's trade ministry officials have announced that the country has issued a $5 million quota to import tax-exempt cars until the end of the year. Sorin Popescu, director of the trade ministry's licenses and trade policy department said, "we thought this would diversify the range of cars and bring more affordable automobiles to Romanians."

Popescu said the policy will allow about 20 unspecified companies to obtain licenses for importing catalyzer-equipped gasoline or diesel powered cars with engine capacities of 3,000 cubic centimeters or less. Popescu said the policy would potentially cover some 400 cars allowing them to be imported free of a 30 percent duty, or 24 percent for automobiles produced by European Union countries.

Romania's local market is currently split between variants of the obsolete Renault 12 made by state-owned automaker Dacia and Daewoo's Cielo--which is substantially more expensive, but has been a big seller since 1995.

Additionally, Daewoo has bought a controlling stake in another Romanian state-owned carmaker (Automobile Craiova) and plans to use that venture to make 75,000 cars a year. The total Romanian auto market amounts to about 150,000 vehicles a year.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel