A local magazine edition and website at www.whatcar.ro were launched on December 1 by consumer and customer magazine publisher The RECP under licence from Haymarket.
“It was essential for us to launch a product that was both online and in print,” Alex Ciocalteu, managing director of The RECP, said, “as Romania has several strong motoring magazines and some websites, but none yet that offer an integrated print and online approach.
“What Car? is an internationally renowned brand and the content and the support we have received from everyone involved at Haymarket has allowed us to beat our forecasts for this first issue and go in to 2010 with confidence.”
Despite a tough economic climate, more than 20 pages of advertising from top motoring and motoring related brands went into the first issue of What Car? Romania. The RECP released an initial print run of 30,000 copies.
Andrew Golby, publishing director of What Car? at Haymarket, said: “What Car? is the only motoring brand that is completely focused on car buying, so we’re confident that it will make an impact in the Romanian market.”
Haymarket’s licensing manager Alastair Lewis said: “We are delighted to be working with The RECP in Romania. They have proven to be excellent partners and I have no doubt that the combination of our world leading content and their local knowledge and contacts will make What Car? a household name in Romania as it is already in the UK, Russia and Latvia. The launch of What Car? in Romania is an excellent note to finish the year with and we look forward to developing our partnership in the year ahead.”
The RECP (which stands for Reference Consumer and Customer Publishing) is an established publisher with Max and Supercar magazines among its Romanian consumer portfolio. It also produces custom magazines for clients including Vodafone, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.
