Mihai Bordeanu, Dacia: “The automotive industry is at a critical moment. We must find solutions if we want a successful industry in the next decade”

“We are living a paradox. On the one hand, we say we are a successful industry, an industry that puts Romania on the map. We rank 5th–6th in car production in Europe. Every car produced in Europe contains at least one component manufactured in Romania. One third of Romania’s exports are generated by the automotive industry.

On the other hand, the reality is that the automotive industry is not being heard. We are still navigating blindly. We have no idea what will happen in the near future. I am not talking about the next decade, but about the next 12–18 months. We simply don’t know,” stated Mihai Bordeanu, Managing Director Dacia South Eastern Europe | Country Head Romania at Groupe Renault, during the Automotive Forum 2025 organized by Automotive Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest.

Key statements:

• We are dealing with this IMCA tax (the minimum turnover tax), which is inefficient, and yet we continue to live with it. We are dealing with an electricity price that makes us completely uncompetitive. At Dacia, we pay for energy that is 60% more expensive than it was four years ago.
  We pay significantly more for energy in Romania than Renault Group pays in Spain, for example.
• Another example is the “Rabla” scrappage program—you know very well what happened this year. We are not bothered if someone publicly assumes the decision and says: we don’t have money, we won’t have the program this year. It is a tough decision, but one we can understand. What we cannot understand is the lack of predictability.
• We constantly make proposals to improve things. PwC, together with ACAROM, made a proposal that could bring billions of lei annually to the state budget.
• Why? Simply because we have the third oldest car fleet in Europe, and we will have the oldest in three years if we continue at the same pace. Every year, old cars enter the country at a ratio of 7 to 1 compared to the new cars we sell. The cars entering Romania are usually more than 8 years old.
• In Europe, there is a simple principle that we do not respect: it is okay to import old and polluting cars, but you must pay for it. The polluter pays. We have raised this issue with every member of the central administration for the past five years, and not much has happened. But we remain optimistic and hope things will improve.
• We are at a critical moment for the automotive industry. In the coming weeks, we should clarify the path we want to take and truly support the automotive industry if we want a successful sector in the next decade.
• Can Romania become competitive? It has been competitive before—so why couldn’t it be again? I see no impossibility in achieving this objective. The starting point is recognizing that we have a problem, and then we must all sit together at the same table and find solutions if we want Romania to once again be competitive in the automotive industry.