The on-off launch of Renault’s affordable Dacia brand in the UK is back on and slated for late 2012 with just one model, the highly-acclaimed new Duster that was unveiled at the Geneva show.
“Dacia by Renault is a new way of doing business,” Renault’s chief operating officer Patrick Pelata told UK journalists when he made the announcement.
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People buying Dacias don’t haggle over price because the cars are affordable – new Duster will sell from EUR11,900 in two-wheel drive and EUR14,000 in four-wheel drive in Europe – and people have already made up their minds, he said.
Duster is built on the low-cost Logan platform and the next generation of Logan models will all be engineered for right-hand drive, said Pelata.
“Initially right-hand drive models will be built in Romania then we will see where it’s best to build them,” he said.
New generation Logan models will follow the Duster into the UK from around 2013, he said.
He described the Duster as “a Renault 4 for 2010. It’s simple, cheap, robust and big inside. It’s also practical”.
Pelata said Dacia cars are very much in the Renault spirit, cars that people like to live in.
In the UK, Dacia will be sold through Renault dealers with a ‘Dacia store’ in the corner of a showroom or, where justified, a stand-alone showroom sharing workshop and office functions.
