April was the best month so far this year for new car sales with dealers selling over 25,800 vehicles, 19,200 of which were imported.
Toyota did particularly well noting a 55 percent increase in business largely thanks to the introduction of the new Corolla earlier this year. By the end of April 3,300 new Corollas were on the road in Poland. Other major winners were the Peugeot 307 and Renault Laguna.
Foreign cars seem to be leading the pack for reasons of quality and equipment and it would seem that clients are prepared to pay extra for this luxury. Industry expert Wojciech Drzewiecki believes that the declining popularity of models such as Fiat Seicento or Daewoo Matiz is due to the increasing demands of the car buying public.
Industry specialists have long blamed the decline of Polish made cars on the import of used vehicles from abroad. Despite the introduction of heavy excise duty on pre-owned imports and the relaxing of excise duty on new cars, the decline of the domestic producers has continued. Wojciech Drzewiecki believes imports of used vehicles is likely to continue despite the extra taxation.