Dacia is swiftly growing car brand in the UK, starting from a zero per cent market share to 1.4 per cent in only ten months. The managing director of Dacia Renault UK claims that the significant proportion of its buyers is coming from used car market because of its competitive prices. The all new Sandero is a booming brand’s new baby which is inspired by Renault Twingo. Dacia also confirmed that the Sandero will be its cheapest ever car model introduced in its markets. The new range is currently kicks off at only £5,995 for Sandero but the new and modified version will be further cheaper by an almost one thousand quid. It is set to start from £5000. It is the price for ten years old Volkswagen Golf and it is very difficult to manage this price for a new car. Dacia will exclusively use the platform same as of the Renault Twingo and they are planning to borrow that platform. Renault is planning to introduce a rear engine and rear wheel drive architecture in its city cars. So it is a plan to squeeze some more life from its city cars.
The Sandero already performs this trick, as it’s based on a MkIII Clio platform – but this chassis can’t go any smaller. Brand development director Rafel Treguer has always said Dacia will consider moving into any class of the market if there’s sufficient volume. And there’s clearly a solid case to be made for low-cost models, if you look at the forthcoming Suzuki Celerio city car and the sub-£7,000 model Vauxhall is planning as an Agila replacement.
Dacia will be hoping to keep build costs down, too, and is planning to use alliance partner Lada’s factory in Togliatti, Russia. Not only does this have spare capacity, but it will allow Dacia to produce cars to a budget. Expect to see the new model arrive late next year, with the most basic versions featuring steel wheels and unpainted bumpers. All cars will get airbags, ESP and ABS, but buyers will have to shell out extra if they want electric windows, central locking, alloy wheels and even a radio.
