DACIA has been and is still in favor of this fee, because - in its position as car constructor - the company deems it unacceptable that Romania face the same situation that occurred in Poland after the May 2004 EU accession, namely:
Poland was invaded by used cars: no less than 2.5 million units in two years and a half, of which 1.8 million are over 10 years old.
At the same time, the new car market collapsed: it dropped 35 percent in 2004 and has not recovered since; only 220,000 new cars were sold in 2006 compared to 350,000 in 2003.
- The Polish auto market is currently invaded by 100,000 used cars each month, i.e. the exact same number that has entered Romania over the entire year 2006.
Shall we allow that to happen in Romania as well?
The consequences could be dramatic, both on the economy-side and in terms of environmental impact and road safety.
On the economic level
DACIA, together with its suppliers and commercial network, currently employs over 100,000 people. That means the financial resources of 100,000 households.
Propelled by DACIA, the Romanian car industry amounts to over 150,000 workplaces, ensuring the living standards for about one million people.
The occurrence of a phenomenon similar to that hitting Poland would have dramatic consequences. In Poland, new car sales plunged 35 percent, while the sales of new cars at a price below EUR 10,000 actually halved.
In other words, half of our sales in Romania, or one third of our activity is at stake here.
Besides the economic implications, the high stakes also include thousands of redundancies that DACIA would have to resort to as well as tens of thousands of workplaces jeopardized throughout the country.
Maintaining the decision to enforce the first registration fee would result in a loss of credibility for Romania in front of foreign investors: following the voting of the Tax Code last year in July, the RENAULT Group launched an ambitious investment program aimed at transforming DACIA PiteΊti in the leading industrial center of the RENAULT NISSAN Alliance in the world. Thanks to this program, the amounts invested by Renault in Dacia starting in 1999 will reach EUR 1 billion at end-2007. Furthermore, the production capacity of the plant is scheduled to reach 350,000 vehicles per year. Also as a result of this program, twenty new suppliers that trust Dacia look set to start operating in Romania. The rules of the game do not change during a match. After all, Romania`s credibility is at stake.
On the environment level
Let us take a look at the current standing of Romania`s auto fleet. It consists of 3.5 million vehicles, of which:
one quarter are over 20 years old;
45 percent are over 15 years old;
60 percent are over 10 years old.
The top priority would therefore be to try and modernize this fleet. The measures taken by the Romanian Government to bear the scrap value for vehicles 12 years and older contribute to the accomplishment of this objective and we salute the initiative to continue this program in 2007 as well.
The same objective is pursued by DACIA itself, through its modern, robust and reliable vehicles, tailored to our road conditions, but also to the Romanians` financial resources.
Allowing Romania to be invaded by used cars from Western Europe would have an exactly opposite effect: it would only do much more harm to an auto fleet that is already one of the oldest on the continent.
On the pollution level:
Passing from EURO 2 to the EURO 4 norms has led to a four-time reduction in gas emissions, such as nitrous oxide and particles.
As regards CO2 emissions, all DACIA models comply with EURO4 requirements, with an average of about 130-140 g CO2/km.
In case of a vehicle 10 years or older, gas emissions amount to 500 g CO2/km.
For each used car 10 years or older entering the auto market, the level of CO2 emissions in one year only (15,000 km) stands at 5 tons.
Finally, we can already see so many old cars abandoned on the roadside: why add the used cars of others?
On the road safety level
The current condition of the auto fleet shows the clear need for its renewal or regeneration. It will take quite a few years before the road network is improved, too.
Allowing 1-2 million of used cars 10 years or older to enter the Romanian market would certainly be detrimental to the current state of affairs. Although imported used cars might not be too expensive, spare parts will definitely be. Hence, the risk of more numerous second-hand spare parts, of counterfeit spare parts, with all ensuing risks to road safety, not to mention the smuggling activity going on under the circumstances.
We perfectly agree that Romania, in its capacity as a member of the European Union, needs to comply with European rules.
But this does not mean that Romania should stand and watch its car industry collapse, a car industry that we have rebuilt in the past seven years and which, thanks to DACIA Logan, is now a symbol of a successful Romania.
Last, but not least, Romania should not let itself be turned into Europe`s auto trash bin.
There have to be solutions for all this.
DACIA launches an appeal to the Government and particularly to the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Public Finance. Our message is as follows: Dacia stands ready to cooperate with you on finding the best solutions with a view to attaining the three objectives below:
Compliance with the European legislation;
Safeguarding the domestic industry;
Avoiding Romania`s becoming Europe`s auto trash bin.
