Renault says it will not undertake discounting of its new Dacia models in the UK, emphasising customers already understand the vehicles’ competitive pricing.
The new Pitesti, Romania-built Sandero and Stepway models will retail at GBP5,995 (US$9,660) and GBP7,995, but will not receive further reductions as Renault looks to achieve a 1% market share for Dacia in the UK.
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“Part of the Dacia strategy is no discount and it works – they know what they pay,” Renault UK managing director, Thierry Sybord, said at this week’s test drive of the new Dacia vehicles near the Southern Spanish city of Malaga. “Is it sustainable? The answer is definitely yes – it works in other countries. I launched it in [Holland] and believe me, Dutch people know what it is.
“All of the dealers agree with that – dealers spend their time talking about the product and not about the discounts. I would be very disappointed if it would not work in the UK.
“If it does not work, fine, it does not work. We won’t kill the Dacia business model for one market. It is important to understand – it is a totally different strategy – more than ever customers ask for transparency.”
Sybord added the models would be mainly be targeted at the retail car sector. “It means we don’t want to go into short-term rentals [or] motability, etc,” he said.
Renault adds Dacia will offer a diesel engine for the first time – the 1.5dCi – that will offer fuel consumption of 4L/100km with less than 100g/km CO2 emissions as well as the TCe 90 petrol powertrain at 5L/100km.
Renault said UK Dacia retailers will rise to 149 by the end of this year, while its Dacia-specific salesforce will increase from 1,300 to 1,400 also by year-end.
“We are now entering a new cycle – for the first time Dacia is releasing second generation versions of its existing models,” said entry programme director, Arnaud Deboeuf.
The Sandero and Stepway will launch in the UK in January and May next year.
