Renault and its dealers will not make any money from the Dacia Logan when it goes on sale in Europe in June, and not for the foreseeable future either.
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The Romanian-built low-cost car needs extensive and costly modifications before it will meet European type approval and pass European crash tests, reports Automobilwoche. The export version of the car will receive a new chassis, new brakes, new tyres as well as strengthened doors.
The base model will sell for €7,250 and the top version €8,700. Dealer margins on the car will be just 5%.
At this price the car faces competition from a number of cars such as the Daihatsu Cuore 1.0 litre (€7,995) and Kia Picanto 1.1 litre (€8,700). Furthermore Skoda is reported by Automobilwoche to be planning a €8,500 version of the Fabia for developing markets, which could also be sold in Europe without modification.
The newspaper says that dealers may be persuaded to import the car directly from Hungary or the Czech Republic for around €6,650. But because the car performs so poorly in crash tests, insurance is high. In Germany it is in the same insurance class as the Porsche 911.
