Automobile Dacia, the Romanian subsidiary of the French Groupe Renault posted a record EUR 162 million ($182 million) profit last year and production for the first half of 2019 indicate that it may reach a record production this year, business news portal Ziarul Financiar reports.
In 2018, Dacia had total sales of EUR 5.3 billion ($5.97 billion), keeping the company as the largest Romanian firm, ahead of oil companies OMV Petrom and and Rompetrol. Dacia is also the third largest employer in Romania with almost 15 thousand employees.
Data from Romanian car manufacturers association ACAROM showed that in the first half of 2019 Dacia increased its output by 9 percent compared with the same period of 2018 to 191,776 units, putting it on track for reaching a record production of over 350,000 units this year, even including the customary August production break – for workers’ holidays and plant maintenance.
The Dacia Duster SUV remains the company’s most successful model, accounting for 76 percent of the first six months production, compared with 67 percent for the whole 2018 year. The average sales price for Dacia cars is EUR 15,000 ($16,910) including VAT.
Automobile Dacia announced earlier this year that it plans to invest EUR 800 million ($901 million) in the 2019-2021 period in its Romanian plant at Mioveni, mostly towards increasing its production capacity.
Title image: Dacia Duster SUV (source: dacia.ro)
