Why Dacia met a great success since 2005
- The Romanian brand Dacia, whose origins date back to the 1960s, was bought by Renault in 1998 to make it a low price brand, capable of being marketed in Romania and throughout Europe. The objective was to market a modern vehicle at 5,000 euros while remaining profitable for the company, a proposition that was non-existent on the market at the time. The French carmaker took five years to develop the first new generation Dacia, the Logan, a C-segment three-box sedan, which was launched in Romania in 2004. The following year, the Logan was marketed throughout Europe as well as in Turkey, North Africa, Russia, Ukraine and South America. The proposed price is ultimately 6,280 euros in Romania and 7,600 euros in France.
- In 2007, the Sandero, a hatchback version of the Logan, was launched, then the Duster SUV in 2010. The three models enjoyed great success in Europe, their low price protecting them from any competition. Dacia went from 170,000 vehicles produced in 2005 to 350,000 in 2011. The Dokker vans and Lodgy minivans launched in 2012 were less successful, but the Sandero and Duster continued their careers brilliantly. Dacia thus produced 480,000 vehicles in 2013, 640,000 in 2016 and 750,000 in 2019.
- Dacia nevertheless suffered from the Covid crisis in 2020 with 540,000 vehicles produced but growth resumes in 2021. In 2023, Dacia produces 690,000 vehicles and places its Sandero in second place in the European market.
- It is surprising that no carmaker wanted to directly attack the Dacia brand given the success of this brand, even if the figures show that Dacia's sales have seized those of Renault, the total of both remaining positive.