Romanian ARO to Be Reborn

Considered by many the first Romanian SUV (although, for all intents and purposes in was not an SUV as we define them today), the Romanian brand ARO may get another chance at impressing the world if the head of Landmark Management, the company which owns the rights to the brand, has it his way.

According to Romanian publication ZF, Nicolae Ratiu is now pondering the revival of the brand with the help of yet unnamed foreign partners. Currently, the ARO plant in Campulung is being used by a company which manufactures parts for the other Romanian brand, Dacia.

“We have the rights for all the ARO models manufactured in the past," said Nicolae Ratiu. “We are currently considering manufacturing parts for the models still in use. We also have several carmakers interested in manufacturing off-road vehicles similar to the ARO at the Campulung plant.”

ARO, once one of the strongest Romanian brands, is still present on the country's streets, seven years after production of the models stopped. According to ZF, there are currently some 35,000 such vehicles in use.

Since production began in 1957 (ten years before the creation of Dacia) 360.000 vehicles have been produced, with more than half of them being exported in 110 countries. ARO was sold for $180,000 in 2003 to US-based company Cross Lander, who even tried to bring ARO to the US.

After failing to invest the EUR2 million promised, Cross Lander gave up its plans for the brand in 2007, when ARO has been taken over by Landmark Management.