Dacia Worldwide Car/LCV Sales : 2013

The Sandero even looks OK in Refrigerator White

Dacia made cars in Romania under licence to Renault, who bought the company in 1999. As part of the Renault Group, Dacia has benefited greatly. It is advancing nicely as a brand in its own right, up 19% in 2013.

The Dokker - a play on the term dock worker

It also has many of it's models made in factories overseas where you need to manufacture locally to avoid steep duties. In those places Renault has decided to sell the cars under its brand name. So the 429,500 cars sold as Dacia cars are complimented by the nearly 650,000 branded Renault. That's over a million cars! Popular indeed.

Over a third of total Dacia cars sold are the Sandero model, a small hatchback model made since 2008. The unusually named Duster is a compact SUV which was first introduced in 2010. Next, the Logan which is made in several body options and has been around since 2004. The Dokker is an interesting vehicle, first released in 2012 as a versatile passenger car or van. It is made only in Morocco. It is related to the Lodgy, and is an an MPV, which also hails from Tangier.

Model	2012	2013	Share	+/-
Sandero	94,240	150,672	35.1%	60%
Duster	131,117	115,405	26.9%	-12%
Logan	102,221	69,355	16.1%	-32%
Dokker	2,910	51,063	11.9%	n/a
Lodgy	29,359	42,977	10.0%	46%
Misc.	188	62	0.0%	-67%
Total	360,035	429,534		19%

Data source: Thanks to Renault Group.

Summary: A vehicle using slightly older technologies to save on cost, it was originally designed with emerging markets in mind. Now the brand is gaining growing acceptance in more mature markets. The value for money they offer for people that do not want to pay for technology they do not need.

To me they thumb their nose at an industry that has become overly complicated and therefore making more costly products, that in most cases we do not need anyway. If the new car is to become something that more people can afford, then car makers need to look at Dacia. Many are going down this road, but say they are not for western markets. If true, then that's a shame.