Romania\u2019s automotive industry is facing a difficult year, marked by declining production, a shrinking domestic car market and rising production costs, with energy prices putting increasing pressure on the sector\u2019s competitiveness, Mihai Bordeanu, Managing Director of Dacia Brand South Eastern Europe and Country Head Romania, said at Automotive Forum 2026, organised by Automotive Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing a comparison with the wine industry, Bordeanu described 2026 as a particularly poor year for Romanian automotive manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you drink wine, you know that there are good years and bad years. If the Romanian automotive industry were a wine, you would never want to drink the 2026 vintage. It has been a bad year, and we have to call things as they are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He questioned why Romania’s automotive production was declining by double digits this year, while neighbouring countries were recording growth of around 40%, and why the domestic passenger car market was contracting by 14%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bordeanu also warned that Romania was losing ground in terms of industrial competitiveness, as manufacturing costs continued to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are getting worse and worse when it comes to our competitiveness. We are producing at increasingly higher costs. A car is made by people and a wide range of components, including energy. All these factors have been heavily affected in recent years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Energy costs were a particular concern. According to Bordeanu, energy prices have increased by approximately 150% over the past decade, creating significant pressure on manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat figure may come as a shock, but energy prices have increased by 150% over the past decade. This is absolutely beyond our control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead, the Dacia executive stressed that, although the past cannot be changed, Romania still has the opportunity to take action and improve the industry’s prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe cannot change the past, but we can change the future. We have to act. We will have to walk the talk. We can no longer continue like this,\u201d Bordeanu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called for a clear and predictable roadmap on energy prices, outlining what businesses can expect between now and the end of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need a clear picture, a roadmap of what we can expect from now until the end of the decade when it comes to energy prices,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bordeanu argued that a fundamental shift in how Romania views its automotive sector is also necessary, starting with the recognition of its strategic importance to the national economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe common thread of this discussion, as far as I am concerned, is accepting and understanding that the automotive industry is a strategic industry in Romania,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once this is acknowledged, he added, it becomes easier to move towards concrete measures capable of addressing the challenges facing manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce we understand and accept this, it becomes easier to move forward and identify concrete actions. These actions can only be carried out through partnership and dialogue,\u201d Bordeanu concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania\u2019s automotive industry is facing a difficult year, marked by declining production, a shrinking domestic car market and rising production costs, with energy prices putting increasing pressure on the sector\u2019s competitiveness, Mihai Bordeanu, Managing Director of Dacia Brand South Eastern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54,1133,56],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17708,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17705\/revisions\/17708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automotive-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}