Latest news with #Dacia
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
How cheap communist car maker became one of Britain's best-selling budget brands
There are a handful of cars that are celebrated for 'putting the world on wheels'. The Volkswagen Beetle, the Citroen 2CV and the Mini historically gave buyers four wheels for little cash, and in doing so gained huge fame. Today there's another brand that's making waves doing a similar thing for modern drivers: Dacia. The Romanian car maker started life as a national manufacturer with a goal to provide reliable and affordable cars to all Romanians - it has since metamorphosed into an unmitigated global success story. So, how have its cheap cars and back-to-nature branding combined to build up over 8million customers since its 2004 rebrand? Freda Lewis-Stempel drove the new Dacia Duster around Romania in a bid to understand the brand's gutsy outdoors origins and learn the formula that's led these frugal cars to become worldwide bestsellers. A brief history of Dacia: From Romania to UK roads Dacia was founded in Romania in 1996 under the Romanian Communist Party, with Dacia taking its name from a direct reference to the ancient region of Dacia, which is now part of Romania. A bit like the Volkswagens of Germany, the objective was clear: to provide modern, reliable and inexpensive cars for all Romanians. In 1999 Renault took over Dacia, and the mass-market Dacia models recognisable today started to go on sale in Europe. The Logan saloon came first in 2004, followed by the Sandero and Duster models by 2010. Costing just €5,000, the Logan revolutionised the automotive market and achieved huge commercial success. The Sandero and Duster built on this, bringing budget, no frills motoring to city drivers and rural dwellers. Then in 2013 Dacia launched in the UK, offering families its Sandero supermini for £5,995. That was the same price as a Ford Fiesta in 1989. The TV proudly said: 'We don't do frivolity, function's our thing'. Dacia's core branding hasn't changed since then, with the most expensive model on offer today, the Bigster, costing £25,215. Even in the new electric car market Dacia's setting the benchmark of affordability with its Spring EV. This small city car has a price tag of £14,995, making it the cheapest electric car in the UK by some mileage. In fact, the only model in Dacia's six-car line-up that costs over £20,000 is the Bigster, with the entry-point Sandero setting a new car buyer back £14,715. We know Dacia in the UK for cheap prices, low-running costs, reliability and unashamed functionality, but in its home country what else does Dacia symbolise? Dacia in Romania – the cars that move a country It was 7am on day two of the trip and I was walking along an empty mud road (see below picture) to Bran in the Carpathian Mountains when an elderly woman drove round the bend. Whether I was more surprised to see her, or her me, I don't know. But what didn't surprise me was that she had absolutely no concerns about tackling a mudslide mountain track in a saloon car from 2004 when it had been raining all night. Why was she so blasé when British drivers would worry about tackling that very same 'road'? Probably because she was in a Dacia. The 'road' to Bran: This is where I saw a woman in her late seventies driving a 2004 Logan without a worry or thought for the steep climb or the amount of rain that fell the night before Seeing a Dacia at this point was standard. There was no setting, no terrain, no circumstance where there wouldn't be a Dacia. That's because 60 per cent of Romanians drive a Dacia. To put that in context, a French Parc Auto survey in 2020 found that French brands make up 62 per cent of French households' fleets. But that includes Renault, Citroen, Peugeot – Renault itself made up 22 per cent. I had this bonkers three in five stat in my mind before I went to Romania and yet I naively started counting how many Dacias I could spot the first morning I was there. I counted about 20 in a remote rural village at 3,280ft altitude in less than 60 minutes, and unsurprisingly decided this game was rather futile. So by the time I saw the speeding grandma on day two I was almost immune to the ubiquitousness of Dacia. It was only to be expected that wherever you'd go, a Dacia would follow. It's hard to properly convey what seeing 60 per cent of the same kind of car on the road is like; in the UK the closest you can probably get is that you're surprised in London if you order an Uber and it isn't a Toyota Prius. But still not even comparable. Dacia's constant presence in Romania reminds you of the true sense of a car: it's a vehicle to get you from A to B. For so many people in the world, and Romanians in particular, a car is a need and not a want, and it's easy to forget that when you're constantly surrounded by drivers wanting the latest, showiest motors. Reliability, low running costs, and 4x4 capability are all needed. Chat GPT, 100 ADAS features, heated seats, Wifi and 360 cameras aren't needed. Dacia's popularity hammers this point home incredibly clearly. And you can't help but be infected with the sense of national pride that Dacia holds in Romania as you drive around the country's jaw-dropping landscape: Dacia is Romania's most famous export and holds great historical and cultural importance in the country. Providing accessible and reliable vehicles to the Romanian people has made Dacia not just a staple on the roads of Romania but a symbol of Romanian industrial strength and ingenuity. Dacia is a symbol of Romanian industrial strength and ingenuity, and puts the agricultural heart of the country on wheels Rural life in Romania - how Dacia is integral to the heart of agricultural working Romania is the country with the highest number of farmers in the EU, with almost 3.5 million farmers or just over 44 per cent. And 90 per cent of these are small farms of less than 5 hectares. In an age of industrial farming that's a hugely rare statistic, and it only goes to show how integral small scale farming is to Romanian life. A website I looked at to learn more about Romania before I went said: 'In rural areas, you will most likely see either a horse yoke or a Dacia'. Never has information been more accurate. In the mountain Transylvanian areas I saw traditional shepherds and their enormous Mioritic Sheepdogs moving the flocks, cows crossing the roads, horse and carts doing a steady 20mph on the main roads, and Dacias. If a farmer drove a car it was a Dacia. So, the 60 per cent of Romanians drive a Dacia stat actually goes much deeper - at the heart of it is how these communities and traditions are kept alive thanks to the budget transport Dacia offers Romanian farmers. And that's what Dacia stays true to in the way it builds and markets its cars - it's all about the wilderness and rural life. Every farm has a Dacia: This was a typical small farm up in the mountains and of course it had a Dacia, as did the farm next to it Dacia's brand positioning and clever marketing Dacia's sense of fun goes hand in hand with its rugged origins, and this combination has proved to be a winning one when it comes to advertising its cheap as chips cars. Commercial campaigns have played humorously on Dacia's lack of luxury, instead flagging up that Dacia does the basics well. Famous TV adverts include the Sandero ads 'Lawnmower feature?', 'Ping Pong' and 'Mermaid?', all of which amusingly suggest unnecessary features the Sandero could have while reinstating that the Sandero actually has all the features you need – such as high mpg and low costs. The Duster 'Another One Drives a Duster' advert took the original Queen song, redrafted the words to focus on the facelifted Duster, and showed the 'elite' classes coveting a Duster. It was a home run. Then the later 'Go Duster' commercial based on the Ghostbusters theme tune highlighted how the Duster gave you a family off-roader with just the gadgets you needed, all to an upbeat song that you'd come to associate with the model. Through commercials Dacia wanted people to know unequivocally what the brand offered, what buying a Dacia would mean, and how your life would be better with a Dacia. Dacia's commercial team nailed the brief, hugely helping Dacia to achieve its brand positioning and sales strategy that's led to today's success. Dacia sales success - how many Dacia drivers are there worldwide? In 2024 Dacia sold almost 680,000 vehicles worldwide – a 2.3 per cent increase on 2023. Not only was this a strong performance in itself, but it also meant Dacia secured 3.9 per cent of the Passenger Car and Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales in Europe, and 4.5 per cent of Passenger Car sales alone. Hitting a major milestone, Dacia surpassed nine million vehicles sold since its 2005 relaunch, with the Sandero being crowned the best-selling car in Europe in 2024 with almost 310,000 units sold. By the end of 2025 Dacia is expected to have sold around 280,000 vehicles in the UK. Currently Dacia cars are on sale across 44 countries in Europe, providing eight million customers with its value for money cars – some feat for a communist car company from the 60s. Dacia has also announced another £15k electric car will be arriving very soon which means that Dacia could soon be the brand of trusted and cheap electric cars too. Electric cars just as dedicated to the function over frivolity promise of course.
Auto Express
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
The MG HS just got hot! New 221bhp Hybrid+ model joins line-up
When the latest MG HS arrived last year, it came with either a pure-petrol or plug-in hybrid powertrain - now you can add a full-hybrid to that list with the new Hybrid+. Priced from £28,995 in SE trim, the Hybrid+ sits between the standard £25,995 pure-petrol HS and the plug-in hybrid - which starts from £31,995. Like the other two powertrains, the Hybrid+ can also be had in a more lavish Trophy guise, priced from £31,495. That pricing means the HS Hybrid+ is positioned closely to the similarly-sized Dacia Bigster Hybrid 155. In full-hybrid guise however, the Bigster costs £28,190, so it's first blood to the Romanian car. Advertisement - Article continues below As with the petrol and PHEV, the MG HS Hybrid+ comes with a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol engine, though the full-hybrid features a 1.8kWh battery (the same one found in the MG3 and ZS Hybrid+) sending power to an auxiliary electric motor with 195bhp. Combined power stands at 221bhp (way more than the Dacia's 153bhp output), helping the HS Hybrid+ launch from zero to 62mph in 7.9 seconds. There's also a two-speed automatic transmission that we first saw on the HS PHEV. Fuel efficiency is of course a key aspect behind the HS Hybrid+ and while it's understandably lower than the plug-in hybrid's 564.9mpg, the full-hybrid's 51.3mpg figure is noticeably better than the pure-petrol's 38.3mpg. Still, the MG can't quite match the Bigster Hybrid 155's impressive 60.1mpg claimed economy. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below On the outside the Hybrid+ looks the same as any other MG HS. As standard you get LED lights front and rear, 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, plus a 'follow me home' light function. There's a suite of handy technology too like rear parking sensors, a six-way adjustable electric driver's seat, air conditioning, keyless entry, rain-sensing wipers, cruise control and an electric parking brake with auto-hold function. Like the rest of the HS range there are two 12.3-inch displays on the dash. The central touchscreen comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity with the Trophy version adding a 360-degree aerial camera, plus wireless smartphone charging pad and an uprated eight-speaker sound system. The driver's screen is customisable with scope to use sat-nav, or focus on entertainment and the car's functions. The placement of the battery means there's no impact on the HS's interior space. Like the PHEV and pure-petrol, the Hybrid+ offers a 507-litre boot capacity, increasing to 1,484 litres with the rear seats down. Both the HS Hybrid+ SE and Trophy are available to order now and both receive MG's lengthy 80,000-mile/seven-year warranty. Now you can buy a car through our network of top dealers around the UK. Search for the latest deals… Find a car with the experts It's only a matter of time before Jaguar Land Rover builds a factory in the USA It's only a matter of time before Jaguar Land Rover builds a factory in the USA Mike Rutherford thinks Jaguar's 'Reimagine' strategy will result in the company exploring further opportunities in the USA Slow death of the manual car revealed in exclusive new data Slow death of the manual car revealed in exclusive new data There are now very few manual cars available to buy, a trend that's been exacerbated by the rise of EVs Car Deal of the Day: Nissan's X-Trail is a do-it-all seven-seat hybrid SUV for only £235 a month Car Deal of the Day: Nissan's X-Trail is a do-it-all seven-seat hybrid SUV for only £235 a month If the Qashqai is too small for you, then the larger X-Trail is a fine alternative. It's our Deal of the Day for 25 May
Auto Express
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
New Toyota RAV4 stars in this week's Auto Express
In this week's issue of Auto Express we have the lowdown on the all-new Toyota RAV4, which gets a bold new look to help it take on the SUV elite. We also have a family car showdown as the Dacia Bigster takes aim at the big-selling Nissan Qashqai in our latest head-to-head. Advertisement - Article continues below Plus, we take a closer look at the new Alpine A390 electric SUV and have official pictures of the latest BMW M2 CS. In the drives section we get behind the wheel of the BYD Dolphin Surf, try out the hybrid version of the Fiat Grande Panda and hit the road in the Smart #5. If that wasn't enough we reveal the best small cars money can buy. This week's issue of Auto Express is on sale now and there's a whole range of ways to get your hands on it! Find out more below. The best value available to our readers is an Auto Express subscription. You can try your first 6 issues for just £1, plus all new subscribers will receive a free welcome gift when they join. We deliver free, straight to an address of your choosing so you can be sure that you'll never miss an issue. If you wish to continue your subscription after your trial ends you save a massive 45 per cent on the shop price, paying just £32.99 every 3 months. Our money back guarantee means that should you need to cancel at any point we will refund any unmailed issues, you can't beat that value! Click here to visit our secure online shop and subscribe to Auto Express... If you prefer to read Auto Express on your desktop, tablet or phone, you can get the digital edition through our online partner Zinio. Single issues are available from £2.99 or a subscription for an entire year is just £90.99. Click here to download Auto Express digital edition from Zinio... If you don't want to get your next 6 Auto Express issues for £1 by subscribing (RRP £28), then you can still buy single issues in shops or online. This week's issue of Auto Express is on sale now for just £4.50. You can find shops near you that stock the magazine by clicking here. If you can't make it to the shops or are unable to find it somewhere convenient, you can buy individual print issues of Auto Express to be delivered directly to your door. Click here to buy single issues of Auto Express
Auto Car
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Exclusive: Dacia CEO joins our podcast to preview brand's next steps
"We could take a Renault Australe and try and make it simpler to make a Dacia Bigster, but you would have all the spec still. We don't have an 'A' brand, and try and then make that car into a 'B' brand. "If you look at the Jogger against its rivals, they are all 250kg heavier as they are carrying that higher spec. This has a cost. "We're not rooted by a minimum spec. We come from the bottom up, and add the minimum technology we need. Rivals come from the top down as they have to platform share." Bigster market research The Bigster breaks new ground for Dacia in going into the C-segment for the first time. As part of its development, Dacia researchers went to Germany to speak to 400 owners of German SUVs to find out what they considered to be 'essential' technology for a model in the family SUV segment. That's what has led to the likes of a powered tailgate, a powered driver's seat and dual-zone air conditioning being offered on a Dacia for the first time. "We wanted to make sure that buyers here didn't feel like they had downgraded, to get the right level of essential kit. We really talked to people, and played a game of to buy or not to buy based on different kit. It was hard to guess! "We did a bit in the UK too but the 'codes' between German and British buyers are very similar. The proportion of buyers from Germany versus France is much higher than with our other models." The Bigster has had the most successful pre-sales period in Dacia history and more than four in five had never had a Dacia before. More than 90% of buyers have gone for the top trim level, too. "We need to make sure people 'cross the road' to come and check out Dacia. We have offered a €25,000 Bigster but most have bought a €30,000 one. They're happy and we're happy." Market positioning Dacia has more than doubled its sales over the last seven years from around 300,000 to almost 700,000 in 2024, and the brand enjoys strong loyalty with more than two thirds of buyers staying with the brand.
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
You could buy Skoda's new plug-in SUV, or you could be wiser and go for an estate
I think my views on SUVs are pretty well-known by now, but just to recap for latecomers – if you live up one end of an inaccessible goat track, and truly need four-wheel drive and lots of extra ride height, then by all means buy an SUV with the appropriate ability and agility to get you home on a cold, wet night. It doesn't have to be a huge one – although the temptations of a Land Rover Defender or Toyota Land Cruiser are obvious – as the likes of a Dacia Duster with the 4x4 options box ticked is more than capable enough for most. For the rest of us? We need to stop. Not only does the International Council on Clean Climate (ICCC) reckon that the extra weight and bulk of SUVs outmatches the gains in efficiency we've made with improved petrol engines and electric power, but more recently Imperial College London has released a study that shows you're 44 per cent more likely to die if you're struck by an SUV as opposed to a more conventional saloon, hatchback or estate. For children, chillingly, that figure rises to 130 per cent. I've been known to soften my SUV stance in the face of examples that are charming, or stylish, or notably comfortable, practical or good to drive, but those figures are enough to make any potential SUV purchaser blanch at the prospect. Or, at least, they ought to. While it's true that most of us looking for the practicality of seven seats will probably be pushed down the SUV route (there are precious few MPVs left on sale now), the fact is that this is a small corner of the market. In fact, seven-seat SUVs account for only about a quarter of the SUV market, depending upon whose figures you listen to. READ MORE It's also true that in the search for improved efficiency, many seven-seat SUVs are forced to sacrifice their extra seats to make way for the batteries of their plug-in hybrid systems. That's certainly the case with this, the new Skoda Kodiaq PHEV. The Kodiaq is far from the most egregiously large SUV on our roads, but it usually does come with extra seats in the boot, turning it into a seven-seater. That said, you'll only really be able to fit smaller people into those seats, as legroom in row three is not great. Skoda Kodiaq In this PHEV version, though, those seats have been excised as the large 19.7kWh battery takes up the space under the floor into which those seats would otherwise fold, and into which occupants' feet would normally fit. So you're left with a big SUV that seats five in comfort but has a diminished boot. The Kodiaq PHEV's 745-litre boot volume (up to the luggage cover) is still impressively spacious in most people's terms, but it's still much less than the 845 litres you would find in the seats-folded standard model. [ Skoda's sporty Octavia RS is still the Farmer's Ferrari, but has it lost its edge? Opens in new window ] Is it worth it? Well, in some ways. This PHEV system, developing 202hp total from its 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and its 40kW electric motor, is quite efficient. Fully charge up the battery (which you can do, handily, from a DC rapid charger if you need to) and Skoda quotes an electric-only range of up to 115km, of which about 80km-90km is a realistic day-to-day target. That means this big Kodiaq really can be an electric car for much of its working life, if its owners take the time to charge up regularly. It's not even too thirsty on motorway runs, normally the bugbear of plug-in hybrids, especially big ones. In fact, with a depleted main battery, the Kodiaq averaged 6.6 litres per 100km in our hands on such journeys, which is about what you would expect to get from the diesel-engine version in such circumstances. Skoda Kodiaq The cabin is roomy and exceptionally comfortable, not least thanks to the high-backed bucket front seats of our Sportline-spec test car. Rear seat legroom is copious, and there's even enough space in the middle rear seat for a full-sized adult to get comfy, so this really is a proper five-seater. The cabin design is nice, too, not least because the Kodiaq's largesse of largeness means that the infotainment touchscreen seems smaller and less intrusive than it does in smaller cars. The handy multifunction rotary controllers are also helpful in circumventing the need to stab at imaginary buttons on the screen. However, there are issues. Some of the cabin plastics do feel notably cheap, which is a big step back from the bank-vault-like quality of the previous Kodiaq. It's also not much fun to drive. The extra weight of the hybrid system means the Kodiaq PHEV needs slightly stiffer suspension, which, while it doesn't exactly ruin the ride quality, does add a touch of extra patter and movement. There's little here for a keen driver, though, and performance is only adequate, with acceleration at higher speeds notably blunted. [ MG HS review: Impressive plug-in hybrid SUV is proof of how far the brand has come Opens in new window ] And then there are those frightening statistics from Imperial College. With those very unpleasantly in mind, there's a far better option, and you won't even have to change dealership. Just walk across the floor and grab yourself a Superb Combi estate. For only slightly more than the €58,400 Skoda asks for our Kodiaq PHEV Sportline test car, you could have the range-topping Laurin & Klement trim for the Superb, named for the founders of the Skoda company (and equivalent Sportline is €3,000 cheaper than the Kodiaq). Skoda Superb Combi While the Superb does suffer from some of the low-rent plastic issue of the Kodiaq, L&K trim does help to paper over those cracks, with 'Cognac' brown leather trim and gorgeous fillets of matt-finished wood panels. It's even more comfortable than the Kodiaq in here, seats the same number of people, and not only is it safer for those outside the car, strolling on pavements or cycling bikes, I also – against the grain, I'll admit – feel safer sitting down low in a car like this, rather than perched up in the air in an SUV. The Superb isn't a dazzling car for a driver, but it's neat enough to drive, and the L&K comes as standard with Skoda's DCC (Dynamic Chassis Control) suspension. Dip into the on-screen menus for this system and you can soften off the dampers to the point where the Superb floats along like a 1970s Citroën. Comfort is total, although there is a touch too much tyre noise at higher speeds. It also has a huge boot, even if the hybrid system robs space, reducing the volume from 690 litres for a petrol or diesel Superb estate to a useful, but hardly gargantuan, 510 litres here. It's a compromise I'd be willing to make, given that the Superb PHEV (which isn't yet available in saloon form) averages 5.5 litres per 100km on long, flat-battery, drives. I know, I've been banging the estate car drum for close to two decades now, and for the most part, you've all ignored me and gone out and bought SUVs instead. Well, far be it from me to say 'I told you so', but it's not just my personal motoring peccadillos; I'm backed up now by official figures. Certainly, when it comes to the choice between these two particular Skodas, you'd be genuinely mad to buy the SUV. Lowdown: Skoda Kodiaq PHEV Sportline Power 1.5-litre turbo four cylinder petrol engine + 40kW electric motor plug-in hybrid developing 202hp and 250Nm of torque, powering the front wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission. CO² emissions (annual motor tax) 11g/km (€140). Fuel consumption 0.5-l/100km (WLTP) – 6.6-l/100km (observed). Electric range 115km (WLTP) 0-100km/h 8.4 sec. Price €58,400 as tested, Kodiaq starts from €53,640. Our rating 2/5. Verdict The Kodiaq's plug-in hybrid system is impressive, and it's massively roomy inside. Not much fun to drive, though, and safety concerns would have us running, not walking, towards the Superb estate instead.
