October 15 (SeeNews) - New passenger car registrations in Europe under the brand of Romanian carmaker Dacia, owned by France's Renault, rose by 25.2% on the year in the first nine months of 2009 to 174,080, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said on Thursday.
In September alone, registrations of Dacia-branded cars fell by 15.9% on the year to 14,000, ACEA said in a statement.
Under the ACEA data, Europe includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and all EU member states except for Malta and Cyprus.
New car registrations in Europe decreased by 6.6% to 10,946,161 in the first nine months of 2009 but rose by 6.3% on the year to 1,388.136 units in September alone.
"The September results were boosted in markets with government incentives to support fleet renewal in place, and especially in those countries where these schemes come to an end soon," ACEA said commenting on car registrations in Europe. "In the new EU member states, the downturn prevailed, reflecting the still challenging market conditions."
New car registrations in Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, dropped by 61.2% on the year in January-September to 88,604 units. In September alone they were down by 74.5% to 6,780 units, ACEA said.