Upcoming Dacia’s Next Chapter SUVs and Hybrid Options
Following on from a look at the current and future models of the Renault brand plus Alpine, now comes an analysis of Dacia. Other brands under the Groupe Renault and Nissan Motor Alliance umbrella will also be examined as part of this series, including Samsung, Lada, Datsun, Venucia, Infiniti, Nissan and Mitsubishi.
After an outstanding 2017, Dacia is enjoying another strong year. In France, the brand’s number one market, a new record was set in April. Deliveries of 14,114 cars (48,004 YtD) not only propelled the Romanian marque into fourth position behind Citroen, but this meant it pushed Volkswagen (April: 12,445; YtD: 46,441) down to fifth. The Sandero remains the best selling model, its April sales passing those of the Peugeot 2008, Citroen C3, Peugeot 308 and Renault Captur. The newly updated Duster enjoyed a surge of 45 per cent, which meant there were two Dacia models in the top ten.
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By GlobalDataThere are five models in the Dacia range and the Logan remains the most inexpensive; at least its starting price makes it that way. One of the most infrequently misunderstood things about this brand is that it is all about low prices. Even though the Logan still costs from the same EUR7,790 in France that it has done for a few years now, prices rise quite a way from that level and it is easily possible to spend in excess of 20,000 euro on a Duster.
Logan
The second generation of this low-cost small sedan had its world premiere at the Paris motor show in September 2012. This was as a Dacia, although in some countries the model is instead sold as a Renault. It uses the Renault Nissan Alliance’s M0 (zero) architecture.
The Logan went on sale in Romania, its first market, in November 2012. The second generation Logan MCV (wagon) was launched at the Geneva motor show in March 2013. Its release in LHD markets took place two months later. Unlike the first generation model, it has only five seats so as not to steal sales away from the Dacia Lodgy.
Facelifted versions of the Logan and MCV had their world premieres at the Paris motor show in September 2016. Six months later, the Logan MCV Stepway was a world premiere at the 2017 Geneva motor show.
The next generation Logan range is due in late 2019. It is expected to be based on the Alliance’s CMF-A architecture, as introduced by India’s Renault Kwid. It is possible that CMF-B might instead be used but so as to keep costs low, the less sophisticated A seems more likely.
Dokker
K67 is the model code for the Dokker, a small minivan. Production is at a plant in Tangier. Like the Logan, the Dokker uses M0 for its platform. The Tangier facility, which was opened in February 2012, had an initial capacity of 170,000upa, building cars on one line at the rate of 30/hour. This would eventually rise to 400,000 when a second line was installed, Renault stated when it launched production.
The installation of the second line was announced in October 2013. Production of the Sandero and Stepway commenced during 2014, doubling the factory’s capacity to 340,000 vehicles per annum.
The first model to be made at the Tangier facility was the Dacia Lodgy (see below). The second model series for the Moroccan factory was the closely related Dokker minivan and van. These had their world premieres at the Casablanca motor show in May 2012. They went on sale in Morocco the following month, and other markets from later in the northern hemisphere summer of that year.
The Stepway, a version of the Dokker with raised suspension, had its world premiere at the Paris motor show in October 2014. Facelifts for the Dokker and Dokker Stepway were then announced in November 2016.
No more updates are expected until the arrival of a next generation model in two years’ time. Both a new Dokker and a replacement for the Dokker Stepway are expected to enter production at Tangier in 2020.
Lodgy
J92, the Dacia (and in certain countries Renault) Lodgy is a five- and/or seven-seater rival for MPVs similar in size to the Kia Carens and Toyota Innova. It was first seen at the Geneva motor show in March 2012, going on sale across Europe two months later.
The Lodgy is mainly built at the Tangier plant although the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s RNAIPL factory at Oragadam (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu also gained production of this model in December 2014.
A facelifted Lodgy was announced in November 2016. This should be the only styling change before the arrival of a second generation model in the second quarter of 2020. Production should stay at both the Indian and Moroccan plants, as the main Dacia manufacturing complex at Pitesti in Romania already builds multiple other models and is at capacity.
There will be a next generation of the Lodgy Stepway too. This crossover version of the car had its world premiere at the Paris motor show in October 2014. A facelifted version was announced in November 2016. Its replacement should appear at the same time as the Lodgy 2 at the 2020 Geneva motor show.
Sandero
The Logan, which was once the brand’s best seller, has now been overtaken by what is a hatchback version of the latest generation model. The Sandero is especially successful in certain countries, such as Brazil, where it is sold as a Renault.
The second generation of this B-segment five-door hatchback and closely related crossover went on sale as Dacia models in Europe from late 2012. Both cars had their global debuts at the Paris motor show in September 2012. The final quarter of 2016 was a busy time for Dacia, as this was when facelifted versions of the Sandero and Sandero Stepway were released for sale across Europe.
Originally, the current Sandero and Sandero Stepway (a crossover derivative) were manufactured only in Romania, but production at the Ayrton Senna plant in Curitiba (Brazil) was added during the first quarter of 2014.
A second line at the Tangier plant began building the Dacia Sandero and Stepway during 2014. Some 90 per cent of the Sandero and Sandero Stepway production at the Moroccan factory is for export to Europe.
Localised versions of the Sandero and Sandero Stepway were revealed by Renault Russia at the Moscow motor show in August 2014. They went on sale (as Renaults) the following month. Each is made by AvtoVAZ at its Togliatti manufacturing complex.
The R.S. 2.0, a Renaultsport version of the Sandero, had its world premiere at the Buenos Aires motor show in June 2015. It went on sale in Argentina in early 2016, powered by a 145hp engine. There is no Dacia equivalent of this car for Europe.
Renault’s Santa Isobel plant in Argentina also makes the Renault Sandero and has done since mid-2016. The cars built there are for the local region only.
The next generation Sandero and Stepway are due to enter production during the fourth quarter of 2019. They should be based on the Alliance’s CMF-A architecture, but like the next Logan, CMF-B might instead be chosen as their basis. Expect a seven-year lifecycle, which would mean facelifts in the second or third quarters of 2023.
The future Sandero and Stepway should again be built at the existing five locations: Pitesti (Romania), Tangier (Morocco), Curitiba (Brazil), Togliatti (Russia) and Santa Isabel (Argentina).
Duster
The final model in the Dacia range is the popular Duster. This vehicle revived the name of a rugged 4×4 which the Romanian firm made in the years when Romania was a totalitarian state. Back then, Dacia did business with Renault, basing many of its vehicles on cars which had gone out of production in France.
Today’s Duster isn’t the most advanced SUV on the market but it does find much favour with people who want a well priced model which offers a lot of size and standard equipment for the money. It uses the same B-Zero platform as the Logan, Sandero and other models. The Dacia went on sale in Europe, Turkey and the Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco) in April 2010, followed two months later (as a Renault) by Ukraine, the Middle East and selected African markets. Production in Brazil, meanwhile, started in September 2011.
Production in Brazil began in October 2011, followed two months later by CKD assembly at the Avtoframos plant in Moscow. Next, Sofasa, Renault Group’s Colombian assembler, began building the Renault Duster in February 2012. Vehicles for Mexico are sourced from the Medellin plant. Renault Duster build was then added at the Alliance plant in Chennai during the second half of 2012.
The Duster was the first model for the reintroduction of the Dacia brand to the UK and the Irish Republic. This was in January 2013. Those vehicles were sourced from India but in September 2014 this switched to Romania so as to help clear a backlog of Renault Duster orders in the Indian market. India’s Nissan Terrano is the same vehicle as the Dacia/Renault Duster sold in other countries.
Renault used the annual Jakarta motor show to announce in September 2013 that its local partner Indomobil would assemble the Duster from 2015. Also in September 2013, a facelifted Dacia Duster had its global debut at the Frankfurt motor show. As the UK and Ireland’s Duster was not at that time sourced from the Dacia plant in Romania, these markets’ cars did not have the facelift until September 2014. This was the first of three styling updates, the latest one in 2017 being a lot more comprehensive. There had been a second facelift for the Indian market in March 2016.
In August 2017, Renault announced that as part of a new JV with the Iranian state, the Duster and Symbol would be built in that country from 2018. There were further details of this agreement announced to the media in August 2017. The company is partnering with Industrial Development & Renovation Organisation (IDRO) and Parto Negin Naseh to produce 150,000 vehicles per year in the country. The (Renault) Duster and Symbol are the first models for the JV and its plant which is in Saveh, some 120km from Tehran.
Renault’s other local partners, SAIPA and Iran Khodro, continue to produce the Tondar, Tondar pick-up, Sandero and Sandero Stepway, independently of the new JV.
Groupe Renault considers the heavily facelifted Dacia Duster which premiered at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2017 to be a new model. As such, it has its own model code (HJD) whereas the Duster released in 2010 was the H79. The updated model went on sale across Europe from November.
While the door skins and windows were not changed, there is a fresh tailgate, the windscreen has been pushed forwards by 10mm and the interior has been comprehensively revamped. In a safety first for the brand, this was the first Dacia to offer curtain airbags.
A Renault-branded version of the refreshed Duster was also revealed in November 2017. Aside from the large diamond logo at the front, the Renault has its own grille. An additional, more expensive version of this model for the Russian market is expected later in 2018. It should be revealed at the Moscow motor show.
HJD will likely be replaced in 2020 or perhaps 2021. This should use the Alliance’s CMF-B architecture.
Will the Kwid become a Dacia?
The A segment is the one obvious area for a potential expansion of the Dacia brand. There have been rumours claiming that the Renault Kwid might be exported to Europe and sold as a Dacia. India, rather than Brazil, has been suggested as the place of build. Groupe Renault has refused comment on these suggestions but this little crossover would need a lot of re-engineering to make it compliant with the European Commission’s collision protection norms.
Future model plan reports for other brands can be viewed in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More data on vehicle lifetime and future product plans is available in PLDB from QUBE.
The next brand in the R-N-M Alliance series with be Renault Samsung, followed by Lada, Nissan, Infiniti and ending with Mitsubishi.
