Looking back on 20 years of success

From a Romanian manufacturer with an ageless industrial tool and an antediluvian range, Renault has made a powerful and ultra-profitable weapon to conquer a new clientele. From the very first Logan to the third generation of the Duster, which has just been released, a look back at Dacia’s two brilliant decades

Success stories like that of Dacia are rare in the automotive industry. Just think: starting from very little, the Romanian brand has sold more than 9 million vehicles worldwide since 2004, has become number 1 among individuals in France and displays a profitability that would make many global automotive groups green with envy.

Sex-appeal

And yet, few people – including at Renault – believed in Dacia’s potential. One man had faith: Renault boss Louis Schweitzer. In the late 1990s, he had the intuition that a “modern, robust and accessible” model priced at €5,000 would find its customers, particularly in emerging countries. acquisition of Dacia in September 1999 provides the opportunity to realize this ambition.
A dedicated team, led by Gérard Detourbet, is set up in Pitesti, Dacia’s headquarters in Romania, and is working on the X90 project, which will become the Logan. And rather than designing the car and then calculating its sale price, the engineers did exactly the opposite: starting with a customer price of €5,000, they focused on the essential qualities, banishing everything superfluous.
A “design to cost” approach that is the polar opposite of the culture of large automobile groups. To achieve this, they simplified (sheet metal parts that were easy to stamp, interchangeable left and right rearview mirrors, one-piece dashboard, etc.), reused (Clio platform and heating, Espace 4 air vents), etc. and of course took advantage of very low Romanian labor and supplier costs. Presented at the Technocentre on June 2, 2004, the Logan received an enthusiastic reception from the press, even though its marketing in Western Europe was not on the agenda. It was its lack of success in Poland, the Czech Republic, or Slovakia that convinced Louis Schweitzer to let Dacia cross the former Iron Curtain.

Dacia: more expensive than before, but still less than the others!

Then everything accelerated. The range expanded with the arrival of the seven-seater Logan MCV, the Sandero city car, and then the Duster SUV. Dacia developed its international implementation with factories in Morocco, Algeria, Colombia, Brazil, etc. The offer has also gained in sex appeal, first with the Sandero Stepway, with a more flattering presentation, then with the appearance of more refined finishes (Extreme, etc.) and more modern equipment (GPS, hands-free key, reversing camera, etc.). Dacias have changed, and so have their customers!
In short, everything is going well for Dacia… or almost. The Romanian brand has only had one failure in twenty years: its inability to penetrate the light utility market. “In this sector, we negotiate the discount before we get interested in the product”explains Olivier Duhautoy, editor-in-chief of Daciattitude magazine and expert on the Dacia community: “However, since Dacia does not offer discounts, a Dokker ultimately costs more than a Kangoo.” But the investment was not wasted: renamed Express Van, the Dokker is now marketed by… Renault!
A new era is now dawning for Dacia. The tightening of standards (anti-pollution, CO2, mandatory safety equipment, etc.) is challenging the historical principle of “carry over” (the reuse of proven components), so much so that since the Sandero 3, Dacia models have been based on the platform of the current Clio. This has resulted in an increase in prices, which nevertheless remain lower than those of the competition. Moreover, inflation has affected Dacia customers less: the amount of their average basket has increased less quickly than that of customers of other brands.

This is probably – together with the excellent reliability of the products – one of the explanations for theexceptional customer loyalty: according to a recent AAA Data study, 82% of Dacia owners buy a new Dacia! This is the second best loyalty rate on the market. This bodes well for the new and ambitious Duster, as well as for its future big brother, the Bigster, expected next year.