Alina Oprea • 8 January, 2024 at 4:13 PM
Over 1.1 million cars were registered in Romania in 2023, up 3% compared to the previous year. Half of all new cars were electrified, according to an analysis published by Autovit.ro platform. Last year, new car registrations increased by 10% compared to 2022, but are about 20,000 fewer than in the year before the pandemic.
In this context, one out of nine new cars, registered in 2023, was electric, and one out of two was electrified (fully electric, mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full hybrid). At the same time, re-registrations (second-hand cars traded on the domestic market) are up by 7% compared to the previous year, exceeding the number of 2019 by almost 40,000 units.
The specialized analysis reveals that 2023 is the third consecutive year when the number of second-hand cars traded domestically exceeded 600,000 units. In this segment, used imported cars have constantly decreased in the last five years, with the number of registrations this year being 32% lower than four years ago.
The value of cars put up for sale on Autovit.ro, during the previous year, is 7% higher than in 2022, with a value of over €4.3 billion. In 2023, the average price of cars posted for sale on the specialized platform was €18,900.
The share of electric cars on Autovit.ro doubled in 2023, and hybrid cars increased by 67% compared to the previous year. Among the most present brands and models of eco-cars, in the dealers' offers on the platform, there is Toyota, with the brands CH-R, Rav-4, Auris, Corolla; Mercedes-Benz, E class, and GLC; Dacia Spring, BMW Series 5 or Ford Kuga. Dacia Spring enters directly into the Top 5 eco cars offered by dealers, although last year it was not even among the top ten models of green cars sold by dealers on Autovit.ro.
The volume of new cars registered in Romania was 142,488 in 2023, increasing by 10% compared to the previous year.
"The new car market has been growing slightly over the past four years but has not yet surpassed the number of registrations from 2019 when 161,562 new cars were put on the road. This car segment has started to recover since the beginning of 2023, when the registrations of new cars reached 24,715 units in the first two months of the year, increasing by 38% compared to a similar period in 2022 when 17,953 units were registered", state the authors of the specialized analysis.
Dacia remains the best-selling brand in Romania in 2023, followed by Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda and Ford.
"Electric cars had another record year, especially thanks to the Rabla Plus program. Compared to 2022, sales of new electric cars increased by almost 30%, surpassing the threshold of 15,000 units for the first time, which represents a share of the market of approximately 11% of new cars, compared to the previous year, when they represented 8%. The most searched brands and models of fully electric vehicles in 2023 were Dacia Spring, Tesla Y, Renault Megane, and Volkswagen E-up. In 2023, hybrid and electric vehicles registered in Romania have exceeded 70,000 units", according to the cited source.
In the segment of second-hand vehicles from abroad, in 2023, 304,171 units were registered in Romania, 6% less than in 2022, when, in the same period, 325,062 cars were registered, but 32% below the reported number in 2019.
In 2023, the best purchase months were March (28,040 units) and October (29,112 units), and the weakest month was December (17,830 units). In 2019, the monthly average of second-hand cars brought from abroad exceeded 37,000 units registered in Romania.
Regarding re-registrations, they ended 2023 with an increase of approximately 7%, with over 660,000 units, the highest volume of transactions with second-hand cars registered domestically in the last five years. The worst month for re-registrations from the previous year was December, with 42,952 units, and the best was March, with 64,580 units.