Samar survey shows major drop in car sales, but imports of cars up

According to the automobile market monitoring agency Samar, Poles bought 98,600 cars between January and the end of April 2002, which is 20.3% less than a year ago. Despite this poor result, April so far has been the best month this year as 6.76% more cars were sold as compared to March. "Sales of cars made in Poland for 2002 will be down 10-12%," believes Adam Kolodziejczyk, director general of Ford Distribution. Figures show that the increase in imports are not related to domestic producers, who generally offer the cheapest cars for people with lower incomes. "These people have been the most affected by the economic crisis, they are the first to resign from buying a new car," claims Kolodziejczyk. Samar notes that sales of Fiat cars have fallen to 3,500 a month, while sales of Daewoo have stabilized at around 1,800 cars per month. Analysts believe importers are in a better position as their sales are targeted at wealthier people, less affected by the economic slump. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) P.W.