Romanian carmaker to temporarily boost production

The Associated Press

Friday, February 20, 2009

BUCHAREST, Romania: French-Romanian carmaker Dacia Renault will temporarily increase production to deliver an order of over 30,000 cars to Germany, where demand was boosted by government subsidies for people buying new cars.

A Romanian union leader Ion Iordache said Thursday that for about a month Dacia will make 1,200 cars a day, instead of 1,085, and employees might work Saturdays to meet the order.

The temporary boost in production comes after Germany launched a program to subsidize the replacement of old cars with new ones. A person wanting to replace a car receives €2,500 (€3,175) toward the acquisition of a new one. Dacia's Logan and Sandero models became popular in Germany with prices of €5,000-€7,500.

Dacia has been hit by the global economic downturn with sales tumbling in Romania. The factory which employs 14,000 people and is located northwest of Bucharest has closed several times since November. Its production decreased from 1,360 cars a day to 1,085 cars.

Iordache said the employees remain worried about the future despite the new demand from Germany. "Unfortunately, the car market is dead in Romania for the time being," he said.