To answer the question, which is traditional in this series, it suffices to compare two numbers. How is Dacia? We can’t do better. In the first half of this year, while the French market showed a 15% drop in sales, the Romanian brand grew by 5.9%. Who says better ? Not many people and not even Porsche, the very different German brand known for its good health, excellent profitability and good margins. About margins, Dacia is not left out.
Dacia, it works and it margins
It’s a secret, but the Romanian earnings would be, according to the boss of the Renault group Luca De Meo, “in double figures”, without giving more details. More than 10% margin with the cheapest cars on the market obviously implies a science of management, but also an incomparable flair for launching cars capable of seducing customers. And in both cases, Dacia has succeeded since the relaunch of the brand by Renault and its arrival on the European market in 2005. Of course, there were some models that were less successful than others, such as the Lodgy or the Logan MCV, but for the past few years, every launch has been a winning launch. Generation after generation, the Duster continues to seduce and the smaller, and less expensive Sandero, remains the most sold car to individuals in Europe.
Dacia Sandero (here in Stepway presentation): the best-selling car in Europe for individuals.
Ok okay, but the Duster like the Sandero are surfing on their past glory and their image is already well established when a new generation arrives. Except that Dacia not only succeeds in its renewals, but also in its launches of new products, like the Spring, its first electric car. It is the second best-selling car in France in zero-emissions mode, just one year after its launch. The reason for this enthusiasm is rather logical, since, at 14,000 euros, bonus deducted, it is the cheapest of its kind.
The Spring phenomenon, and its success, is comparable to that of the Citroën Ami. Because here are two cars, which observers denigrated at launch, explaining that they were not “real cars”. Except that the observers in question, perhaps obsessed with the automobile tradition of long-distance vessels, did not see the arrival of these new customers, followers of short, urban, interurban and necessary journeys, for whom the 200 km of autonomy of a Spring are sufficient, just as its moderate comfort is sufficient.
La Spring, an electric success and the discovery of a new clientele: suburbanites.
Conversely, the Romanian brand also has a long-term ship, which also has a success story. The Jogger, a SUV station wagon which should make you forget the late MCV, is starting off with a bang and has recorded 21,000 registrations since the start of the year, while 50,000 orders are waiting to be delivered.
All these models, the Sandero in the lead, are overwhelmingly purchased by individuals, Dacia’s main target, which is nevertheless increasingly interested in business customers. Would it soon become a brand like the others? Especially since its prices continue to rise. The Jogger suffered an inflation of 1,500 euros in a few months and the price increase of the Spring is of the same order. Would Dacia leave the low-cost department and its bargain prices, to sail towards more troubled waters for him of generalist brands where competitors are jostling?
the future Bigster will be expensive, but cheaper than the others.
The leaders of the manufacturer, who never speak of low cost, explain that they are keeping the course of “best price-performance ratio”. This does not prevent them, in addition to the increase in prices, from always offering more equipment, observing, in passing, that the most expensive models are also those which sell the best.
This inflation will also affect the future Bigster, this 4.60 m Dacia SUV, which will be available in five and seven places by 2025 and could well be displayed at 30,000 euros. See more in its plug-in hybrid versions, if this technology is still relevant on this horizon. Is it expensive for a Dacia? Certainly, but it’s still cheaper than the similar model at Peugeot, whose 3008 are, on average, 5,000 euros higher. Also cheaper than the future Renault Austral which will evolve in the same category.
Dacia therefore does not leave its field, always stands at a good distance from the competition and seems to want to continue its merry way in this direction. Simply, when everything increases, the Romanian brand follows the same slope.
