From Novinite

New car sales in Bulgaria collapse by 65% in two years

The sale of new cars in Bulgaria has collapsed by a staggering 65 per cent in the past 24 months, Investor daily reported on January 11 2011, citing statistics from the Bulgarian Automobile Manufacturers Association (BAMA).

The market experienced something of a recovery last December as buyers became busier than usual over the holiday season, but figures indicate that, overall, there was a 25 per cent drop in sales in 2010 on the previous year.

In total, 20 085 vehicles were sold in 2010 (the figures include cars, buses and lorries), down 25 per cent from 2009, when 26 813 vehicles were sold, or 53.71 per cent less than the figure in 2008.

The global economic crunch and its enduring effect in Bulgaria are responsible for the local market's stagnation, according to the BAMA report.

The domestic market underwent a nine-year consecutive growth between 2000 and 2008, but with the arrival of the global crunch, buyers went quiet and the market experienced a total 65.3 per cent drop in two years.

A total of 2260 new cars were sold in December 2010, a 4.15 per cent increase on the same period in 2009.

Of the 20 085 new vehicles sold in 2010, 18 820 were cars, or 26.8 per cent less than the 25 705 cars sold in 2009.

In 2010, the most popular vehicle in Bulgaria was Toyota, with 1906 new cars sold, a drop of 32 per cent from 2009, when 2820 cars were sold, the report said.