The Pound in your pocket isn’t going so far nowadays.
The growth of no frills shops like Lidl, Aldi and Poundland or the basic own brands offered by the likes of Tesco’s and other supermarkets underlines the economic stresses that most families are feeling today so, maybe, Dacia’s success isn’t so much of a surprise.
Not just here in the UK but, also, in Europe where, for instance in France, it is now the fourth best selling marque. This is the white goods of motoring, the ‘it does what it says’ on the tin of transport and none the worse for it.
“Dacia is absolutely the right brand at the right time in the UK market,” its brand manager Adam Wood told me.
“If we’d had Dacia for scrappage a few years ago we’d have absolutely cleaned up, but the time wasn’t right because of exchange fluctuation and the second reason is that demand for them trebled across Europe and other countries so we were always waiting for right-hand drive.”
Bargain basement they might be, but that doesn’t mean Dacia’s appeal is only to those with limited income, witnessed by the fact that 60 per cent of sales are models at the top end of the specification range, yet still manage to undercut their rivals price point.
“Our attraction is extremely broad because our promises appeal to many people regardless of their disposable income,” claims Adam.
Launching 149 dealers and four models in six months is no mean achievement, but Dacia isn’t standing still: Geneva saw the Logan estate debut and there’s a Logi MPV on sale in Europe that would make a logical extension to the brands UK line up at some point in the future.
© Glen Smale & Virtual Motorpix
