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Land transport
vehicles and of agricultural equipment industry
(Synthesis of the study
drawn up by the Romanian Trade Promotion Centre) A. The industry of road transport vehicles
Foreword
The industry of road transport vehicles
plays a modest role within the Romanian economy, having in view that this sector had a 3.0 % share of the
industrial output (2003), a 3.2 % share of the personnel employed by the
whole industry (2004) and a 0.5 % share of the total exports of the country
(2004). A bigger share, namely 5.2 %, was registered in the total imports of
the country (2004). The main assets of the sector consist of -
exceeding
production capacities; -
qualified
personnel; -
professional
research - design departments; -
competitive
domestic raw materials resources; -
a specialized horizontal
industry. The main shortcomings of the sector consist of -
obsolete
equipment; -
low
productivity; -
technological
indiscipline; -
use of old
production technologies; -
high prices of
the components manufactured locally. Production potential
The number of the
manufacturers within the sector increased permanently over the last period;
if in 1998 there were 197 manufacturing companies, their number reached 352
in 2002, of which 43 (12.2 %) big ones i.e. with more than 250 employees, 32
(11.9 %) middle-sized ones i.e. having 50 – 249 employees and 267 (75.9 %)
small ones i.e. with maximum 49 employees. The growth of the number of the
manufacturers entailed the decrease of the production concentration within
the sector; so, the cumulated turnover of the biggest five manufacturers
declined from 60.7 % in 1999 to 52.2 % in 2003, whereas of the biggest 20
manufacturers from 84.5 % in 1999 to 67.7 % in 2003. However, the production
concentration is still high, having in view that the 43 big manufacturers had
in 2002 a 94.3 % share of the registered capital and 89.3 % share of the
entire sector. Despite the increase of the number of
the manufacturers, the total personnel employed by the sector scored a
permanent descending trend, so that in 2004 it decreased by 21.1 % against
2000. The value of the output of the sector
registered the following evolution between 2000 – 2004:
Billion lei, current prices
Source:
N.I.S. Statistical yearbook of Romania, 2004 * N.I.S. In kind, the output of road transport vehicles
registered an increase over the 2000 – 2004 period, namely by 55.8 % in
respect of town cars and by 46.5 % in respect of commercial vehicles. By
contrast, the output of off-road cars decreased by 59.9 % and that of trucks
by 68.5 %. The output of buses completely disappeared in 2004 after a
continuous decline, whereas that of trolley buses, though very small,
increased sharply. The industry of road transport vehicles,
including the related components, encounters a deep crisis, generated by a series
of objective and subjective causes, such as: ·
contraction of both home and foreign markets after 1990; ·
poor quality and fisability of the national vehicles; ·
delay in implementing the restructuring programmes of the sector; ·
faulty management; ·
shortcomings of the legislative framework. Privatization The privatization process of the road
transport vehicles industry unfolded very slowly and has not been completed
so far. In respect of car production the privatization
has been fully achieved, taking into consideration that the two domestic
manufacturers namely Automobile Craiova and Automobile Dacia were sold to
South-Korean Company Daewoo in 1994 and company Renault in 1999 respectively. In respect of off-road vehicles, trucks
and other vehicles the privatization process encountered major difficulties,
caused by the lack of atractivity from the part of the manufacturers of the
mentioned items. However, at the end of September 2003 the company ARO Câmpulung
and the company ROMAN Braşov were sold to the American company Cross
Lander and to the Malaysian company Pesaka Astana respectively. However, at
the beginning of 2005 the privatization of ARO Campulung proved out to be a
failure, having in view that Cross Lander has not fulfilled its contractual
obligations. Investments
After 2000 the investments in the road
transport vehicles industry were quite important, the bulk of them being made
by Renault group after taking control over Automobile Dacia. Between 2000 –
2004 this company invested 537 million dollars, of which 220 million for the
manufacturing of the brand Logan alone. Domestic consumption
Over the 2000 – 2004 period the total
sales of new road vehicles in the domestic market increased continuously, so
that they were 2.15 times bigger in 2004 compared to 2000. The sales of buses
increased the most (2.61 times), followed by those of town cars (2.19 times)
and commercial vehicles (1.98 times). The share of the home-manufactured vehicles
within the total sales in the domestic market registered a declining trend,
whereas of the imported ones increased. Thus, in respect of town cars the
share decreased from 78.2 % in 2000 to 59.8 % in 2004 and in respect of
commercial vehicles from 69.4 % in 2000 to 57.5 % in 2004. Between 1999 – 2002 the number of the
cars in traffic kept on growing in respect of town cars and trucks and
stagnated in respect of buses. Foreign trade The weak development of the domestic industry
of road transport vehicles, reflected in its incapacity of covering the demands of the local market in number
and assortment, entailed the import of a sizable number of road vehicles,
which widely exceeded the exported ones, generating a permanent deficit of
the foreign trade balance of such articles (see table below). Million USD
Source: National
Customs Administration Between 2000 – 2004 the foreign trade
balance was in deficit in total and by chapters alike; however the
contribution of the three components i.e. cars, trucks and buses to the
overall deficit was different from one another, namely: cars – 68.9 %, trucks
– 26.3 % and buses – 4.8 %. As for exports, the cars represented the
most exported item along the entire analyzed period (93.9 % of all road
vehicles exported in 2004). The value of these exports registered a general
upward trend, increasing from 9.7 million dollars in 2000 to 118.0 million
dollars in 2004. In respect of commercial vehicles Dacia
Pick-Up is the most exported item. The exports of trucks were insignificant;
in 2004 they represented only 7.6 million dollars, representing 6.0 % of the
sector exports. As for imports, the cars represented the
most imported item, with a 70.8 %
share of all road vehicles imported in 2004. The value of the cars
imported over the 2000 – 2004 period increased 10.7 times, i.e. from 112.7
million dollars in 2000 to 1,205.6 million dollars in 2004. In 2004 the truck imports ranked second
with a share of 24.8 % while the imports of buses took the third place with a
share of 4.4 %. Between 2000 – 2004 the main
destinations of the car exports were China with a 30 – 42 % share, followed
by Siria with a 12.1 – 40.1 share and Turkey with a 8.6 – 29.9 % share During the same period the main
suppliers of road transport vehicles to the Romanian market were: -
for buses: Germany (13.1 – 43.2 %), Turkey (8.7 – 42.9 %), Italy ( 4.3 – 18.2 %); -
for cars: Germany (32.7 – 46.2 %), Turkey (8.8 – 16.5 %), France (6.9
– 15.8 %); -
for trucks: Germany (28.4 – 52.9 %), Italy (21.4 – 42.7 %), France (7.5
– 11.0 %). B. The industry of railway means
of transport After 1990 the Romanian industry of
railway means of transport followed generally the same descending trend as
the industry as a whole. Between 1998 – 2003 the output of
locomotives scored a very low level, the internal needs being covered by
imports. The output of passenger cars shared the same fate (see table below).
The only engine of the development of the sector was represented by the
wagons manufacturing which registered a spectacular increase, mainly
influenced by the foreign market demands. The rolling stock
output between 1998 – 2003 Pieces
Source: N.I.S. Statistical
yearbook of Romania, 2004 * N.I.S. Statistical
bulletin for industry nr. 12/2004 The prominent manufacturers of railway means of transport
in 2003 were Astra Vagoane Arad SA (turnover 3,488 billion lei), Faur SA
(turnover 484 billion lei) and Astra Vagoane Calatori SA (turnover 348.7
billion lei). Foreign trade Over the 2000 – 2004 period the rolling
stock foreign trade balance was always in excess excepting 2003 when it
turned in deficit due to imports of motorailers. The foreign trade balance was decisively
influenced by the exports of wagons with a 68.7 % share of the total exports
of the sector in 2004 and exports of rolling stock components with a 23.7 %
share, on one hand, and the imports of rolling stock components with a 48.4 %
share and imports of motorailers with a 36.9 % share, on the other. Rolling stock foreign
trade balance between 1999 - 2003
Million USD
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