Dacia’s Dominance: Selling More Than Renault? Who Knew?
Well, well, well! If it isn’t Dacia, that cheeky little brand that’s currently stealing the limelight from its big parent, Renault. For the very first time, Dacia is selling more cars than Renault in our country. Shocked? You shouldn’t be! It’s been a while coming—while Fiat and Citroën are drowning in the sea of private sellers procrastinating with their wallets, Dacia just keeps sailing smoothly ahead. They must be handing out complimentary GPS devices to navigate the sales charts!
Dacia outselling Renault, almost exclusively to private individuals.
But let’s get one thing straight—Dacia is not just selling more; they’re practically leapfrogging over their parent company! A staggering 85% of their sales can be chalked up to good old-fashioned private individuals. Meanwhile, major brands are experiencing their own version of high-stakes musical chairs as they struggle to keep buyers in their seats.
On Monday in Paris, Dacia decided it was time to dress up a little and launch the Bigster—a new SUV ready to mingle with the likes of the Volvo XC40 and Volkswagen Tiguan. You know, the posh crowd that European car buyers seem to adore. They must’ve thought, “Why not take our spartan image and throw in a little glitz?” It’s like seeing your uncle at a wedding: you know he’s still going to be rocking a Hawaiian shirt, but at least he’s got a pair of sandals on instead of flip-flops!
Price Reduced—But Not Too Much!
Denis Le Vot, CEO of Dacia, seems to have been spending too much time with his ear pressed to the asphalt of German highways. He learned that potential buyers are put off without features like electrically operated seats, which is why they’re now part of the deal in their top model. Because why should the budget-conscious tire-kickers suffer the indignity of manually cranking their seats? No, no, a thousand times no—let them press a button instead!
As for the Bigster, you’ll be able to snag one at Belgian dealers for about €25,000. But let’s be real—most Belgians will probably opt for something a little fancier since they love their bells and whistles. Who doesn’t enjoy a good blend of functionality and decadence?
Dacia’s Spring: The Electric Enigma!
Now, if you’ve been keeping your ear to the ground, you’ll know Dacia’s got an electric model called the Spring. Ironically, it’s the cheapest electric car in Belgium. But here’s the kicker—no one is biting. Private buyers are turning their noses up as if they just smelled spoiled cabbage! It seems the allure of a low price is no match for the shiny Teslas gliding down the road. Even with a recent price drop pushing it below €8,000 thanks to subsidies, the Spring is more of a hot potato than a sizzling deal.
Renault CEO Luca De Meo joked about selling the electric car for the price of five iPhones. I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to buy a phone that doubles as a car, I wouldn’t be waving goodbye to my low-budget dreams quite so easily!
Emission Fights and Money on the Table!
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room—emissions! The impending European rules are giving Dacia cold sweats. With an average CO2 emission cap of 95 grams per kilometer coming in like a freight train, car makers are sweating like it’s the finals of NFL cornerbacks versus wide receivers. Exceed the average? That’ll be €90 per gram, please! With fines looming large, it sounds like they’re about to dive into the realm of electric cars headfirst!
Three Options: Sell Electric Cars, Limit Combustion, or Fill the Fines Jar!
Le Vot himself has made it clear—Dacia must either sell electric cars by the truckload overnight, limit gasoline sales, or dig deep into their pockets to cover those potential fines. Olympic athletes have less pressure on them! It’s tough when your budget-friendly brand is perceived as more of a cost center than a profit machine.
So, Dacia faces quite a conundrum as it balances affordability, demand for electric options, and the risk of penalties. It’s like trying to teach a dog to do calculus—challenging at best!
With the sales rise comes the challenge of staying relevant and compliant. It’s a wild ride ahead for Dacia! So stay tuned, folks: the next chapter in automotive drama may just have us all on the edge of our seats, or at least our electrically operated ones!
Erratum: Apologies for mistakenly dragging Toyota into the conversation earlier. To be clear, they’re off playing with their own toys.
October 14, 2024 Today at 8:41 PM
This year, Dacia sells more cars in our country for the first time than its parent company Renault. The new European emissions rules put the budget brand in a difficult position.
Dacia has been on a seemingly unstoppable rise in our country for years. While brands such as Fiat and Citroën, which also rely on sales to private individuals, suffer from the procrastination that private car buyers have been exhibiting for years, Dacia sales continue to rise. This year, for the first time, the brand appears to be selling more cars in our country than parent Renault, and almost exclusively with sales to private individuals. Barely 15 percent of sales go to companies.
This year, for the first time, Dacia appears to be selling more cars in our country than parent Renault, and almost exclusively to private individuals.
The brand launched a large SUV in Paris on Monday: the Bigster. It is the first time that Dacia has entered the territory of the Volvo XC40, the Volkswagen Tiguan or the Opel Grandland. They are the kind of cars that European car buyers are very excited about: almost a quarter of all new cars sold on the continent fall into that category.
In several respects it is unknown territory for Dacia. While it made its name and fame with spartan small cars that initially did not even have electrically operated door windows, the Bigster suddenly becomes a lot more luxurious.
Price reduced
Denis Le Vot, the CEO of Dacia, mainly commissioned research into German car buyers, because the brand has a weak position in Germany, while Germans love medium-sized SUVs even more than other Europeans. “The research showed that people who want this type of car are turned off if it does not have electrically operated seats,” says Le Vot. That is why electric seats are part of the basic equipment of the budget brand’s top model.
In the course of next year, the Bigster will be available from Belgian dealers from approximately 25,000 euros. Although most Belgian Dacia customers will not opt for that version. “The Belgian Dacia customer often chooses the best-equipped variant,” says Guy Vandenbranden, Dacia’s director in Belgium.
The Spring, Dacia’s only electric model, is the cheapest in Belgium, but private buyers are hardly enthusiastic about it.
As a budget brand, Dacia hardly sells electric cars yet. The Spring, the brand’s only electric model, is – noblesse oblige – the cheapest in Belgium. But private buyers are hardly enthusiastic about it so far. The premium of up to 5,000 euros for private buyers of electric cars in Flanders mainly goes to buyers of Teslas.
Dacia has lowered the price of its electric Spring to just over 10,000 euros since the beginning of this month. After deduction of the Flemish premium, a net price remains of just under 8,000 euros. Renault CEO Luca De Meo points to his smartphone. “Put five of these iPhones in a row and for that price I’ll sell a new electric car,” he says.
Average emissions
And it is precisely that electric car that is causing headaches at Dacia. Next year, new rules will come into effect in Europe that determine how much CO2 new cars can emit. The average CO2 emissions per car – calculated over the total sales of a car manufacturer – may only be 95 grams per kilometer next year. That is a drastic reduction compared to this year.
Either we dramatically increase the sale of electric cars overnight with discounts, or we limit the sale of cars with a combustion engine, or we pay billions in fines.
For every gram of CO2 that a brand exceeds that standard, a fine of 90 euros must be paid per car sold. Since the major car manufacturers sell millions of cars per year and on average threaten to exceed the 2025 maximum by 10 grams, European manufacturers face billions in fines.
The easiest way to reduce average CO2 emissions is to sell many more electric cars, because they emit 0 grams of CO2. And that’s where Dacia’s shoe pinches: private car buyers usually still find electric cars too expensive and opt for a petrol engine, possibly equipped with an additional hybrid electric motor. This means that Dacia in the Renault group changes from a profit machine to a cost center.
“There are only three options,” says Le Vot. “Either we dramatically increase the sales of electric cars overnight with discounts, or we limit the sale of cars with a combustion engine, or we pay those billions in fines.”
Erratum
A previous version of this article incorrectly mentioned Toyota as one of the brands that suffer from the procrastination behavior of private car buyers.
