Car importers to stop layoffs, but will not hire

“We have done our homework to benefit both the people that are working with us and our company. As concern prognoses, we hope that the market has reached its low,” according to a declaration by officials of Automobile Bavaria, the largest BMW dealer in Romania. Another company to resort to a hiring freeze is Mercedes-Benz Romania.

“Mercedes-Benz Romania now has a total of 155 employees. Although the number dropped this year, we believe this will remain stable in 2010,” said Ioana Predescu, the auto dealer’s Human Resource Manager. Predescu added that the company will focus in 2010 on retaining and consolidating its existing team, with the current number of employees sufficient to meet proposed objectives. Wenzel Weber, General Manager of Auto Bavaria, indicated that his company will also concentrate on consolidating its team, as next year’s key human resource strategy will be an investment in its young and talented employees. “We have many talented young people in our company, and we will invest in their professional development through training and workshops,” said Weber. He did not wish to make any specific prognoses in terms of the evolution of the number of employees in 2010. “This will be an unpredictable year, and we are monitoring the situation on a monthly basis. No one could have foreseen at the beginning of 2009 the drastic decline that would take place this year,” said Weber.

Automobile Bavaria was recently designated official supplier of the Romanian Royal House during a ceremony that took place at Elisabeta Palace. Auto market players say that the development of post-sales services will counterbalance the decline in automobile sales, with the share in the former already making up some 50 percent of business, compared to 25 percent in normal times. Furthermore, representatives of companies in the sector are hoping that the national economy will recover next year.