Dacia outlines future plans for eco and budget friendly cars in Europe, while Australian plans remain unconfirmed.
Renault’s budget brand Dacia has launched a new brand strategy following its new styling direction and logo shown earlier this year. It will focus on three mantras: making cars that are ‘essential but cool’, ‘robust and outdoor’, and ‘eco-smart’.
While not currently offered in Australia, parent company Renault is wanting to offer some of the brand’s models here.
While perhaps rooted in marketing speak, the overall theme of the new strategy is clear: to ensure the brand focuses on making cars that are offered only with the equipment they need and no more, which in turn keeps down prices and ensures outstanding value for money.
“We are in a new economic environment,” said Dacia sales and marketing boss Xavier Martinet. “We have the same issues as other OEMs but we believe we have an interesting card to play. With inflation and many other areas of the economy, many customers don’t want to spend €30- 40,000 (AUD$44-60,000) on a car. In crisis comes opportunity, and although we’re not looking for crisis, there could be alignment for us to move beyond our two pillars of Sandero and Duster.”
By the time it launches the Bigster in 2025, it will have five models (Spring, Sandero, Duster, Jogger, Bigster) that Martinet says will give Dacia 80 per cent coverage of the European market. “We believe we will have a complete offer of strong models,” he said. “The idea is to give consistency, and with a brand positioning in-line with customer expectations of “essentials” in each segment.
However, Dacia is not immune to the challenges facing the industry around the rising costs of raw materials, a “part of the equation we can’t manage”, according to Martinet. “If the cost of steel doubles, there’s not much I can do,” he said.
“The question is just what is essential,” said Martinet. “The customer price is not just a consequence of your actions, it is a key ingredient.”
Martinet said that Dacia’s strategy was still a profitable one despite the low price of its models, and Renault, dealers and customers were all happy with the current structure.
On this topic, Le Vot added: “Dacia’s unique business model is a new form of modernity in this era. New, wealthier customers want only the essentials, and are wanting to spend wisely. We can satisfy them fully.”
Mark Tisshaw