A winning formula Dacia

A WINNING FORMULA

Dacia’s Logan was originally conceived as the answer to the motoring needs of emerging countries but it proved so successful that now, ten years later, the Romanian car maker’s eight models are big sellers in the European market too. Peter Mercer reports.

AT last September’s Frankfurt Motor Show Dacia presented the latest version of its Duster 4x4 SUV. First launched in 2010, the Duster was the first Dacia off-road vehicle and is already established as the best-selling SUV on the Romanian market, thanks to its combination of real sports utility 4x4 capabilities and proven Renault and Nissan technologies with unbeatable prices. To date more than 500,000 units have been sold. The new Duster features a new exterior and interior design that enhances its 4x4 character as well as double optic headlights.

“We have built on the appeal of the original model. Identifying components such as the grille have been modernised and we have strengthened the 4x4 design cues of the vehicle while keeping all its useful features,” says David Durand, Head of Styling for the Entry range. “The result is a new Duster with an even stronger character that retains its original DNA.”

The renaissance of the Dacia brand dates back to the 2004 launch of the allnew Logan, a small affordable saloon that was initially aimed at the world’s emerging markets. The new car was the key element in the Renault Group’s strategy to establish a second brand that would offer reliability, practicality and efficiency at an unbeatable price. The group acquired 51 per cent of Dacia’s shares in 1999 and raised its stake to more than 99 per cent in 2004. During those years it has invested more than two billion euros in the total modernisation of Dacia’s Mioveni production plant in Romania as well as in the reorganisation of the supplier network, the rebuilding of the commercial network and a new programme of employee training. By far the greater part of this huge investment went into the comprehensive upgrading of the Assembly Plant, which now has a production capacity of 350,000 units a year, and of the Powertrain and Chassis Plant.

The Dacia production facilities at Mioveni now operate on a three shift system. Most of the operations at the Mioveni plant are still in the hands of the workforce rather than being carried out by robots but the overall organisation of the plant fully conforms to Renault’s general practice and, in fact, any Dacia employee could move into another Renault

CAPIROM was created in the year 2000 and is the Romanian branch of the API Group from France.

CAPIROM is specialised in the development, industrialisation and production of plastic parts and assemblies mainly for automotive industry and some sport articles.

CAPIROM - Arper Plastiques Industries Santandrei Nr 180, 417515 - ROMANIA Tel: +40 (0)2.59.46.88.74 Fax: +40 (0)2.59.476.476 www.api-sas.com

Injection and 2k injection molding. Blow molding. Assembly.

ISO/TS 16949:2009 ISO 9001:2008 ISO 14001:2004 ELJ AUTOMOTIVE S.A. 101 GARII Str., 135500 TITU, ROMANIA Phone: +40 245 651 139 Fax: +40 245 651 087 E-mail: offi ce@elj-automotive.ro Web: www.elj-automotive.ro

Design and fabrica on of hydraulic brake equipment: power brakes, rear axle load sensi ve valves.

35 Fagului Street, Satu Mare, Romania • Phone: +40-261-769564 • Fax: +40-261-769565 • www.autonova.ro

Landi Renzo

Landi Renzo, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is a world leader in alternative fuels systems for the automotive industry. The company is a global partner to leading automobile manufacturers and over 8 million vehicles worldwide are equipped with its systems.

Headquartered in Italy, Landi Renzo operates globally through its international subsidiaries and extensive distributor network. Landi Renzo , characterized by high investments in research, a flexible business model, cutting-edge technologies, ensures a top-rate system for reducing costs and maintaining high quality standards. This has allowed the group to become the first one in the sector to obtain the prestigious ISO-TS 16949 certification specifically for the automotive sector.

In 2014, Landi Renzo celebrates 60 years of innovation in clean transportation.

plant anywhere in the world and immediately recognise the same processes and the same work environment.

Expanding range

When the Logan was first proposed it was intended to be a single model - a robust, reliable and affordable saloon that Dacia would produce to meet the rapidly rising demand for such a basic vehicle in emerging markets. But the Logan proved to be such a success that Dacia has now become the Number Two brand of the Renault group and one of the most dynamic brands in Europe, with sales of more than 250,000 units per year and important positions in the French, German, Italian and Spanish markets.

What’s more, the remarkable success of the Logan quickly led to the development of other models aimed at different market segments. First the Logan MCV, which was introduced in 2006 as a new concept estate car, took the Dacia brand firmly into the European market. And then 2008 saw the launch of the Sandero five door hatchback, a model that proved a strong competitor in the supermini category, one of the most important segments in the European car market, and took Dacia into an even stronger position in the French, German and Italian markets. In fact, between 2008 and 2009 the Sandero more than doubled Dacia’s sales in Western Europe.

And then, in 2010, Dacia brought off something of a revolution in the fiercely contested SUV segment with the introduction of the Duster, a genuine 4x4 off-road capable vehicle that took the motoring press, industry analysts and, most importantly, the public by surprise with its unique combination of high performance and low cost.

Today almost 94 per cent of the cars manufactured at the Mioveni plant are exported to some 37 countries worldwide. Dacia’s main export markets in 2013 were France (83,469 units), Germany (43,395 units), Algeria (35,949 units), Turkey (30,333 units) and Spain (27,792 units). Other important export markets include Morocco, Italy, Belgium, the UK and Poland.

And Dacia vehicle are today produced not just in Romania but at plants in Morocco (Casablanca and Tangiers) and in India, where the plant at Chennai produces the right hand drive version of the Duster mainly for the UK market. All of these plants are run separately.

“To put it simply, Dacia’s success comes from offering the best combination of low cost, roominess and reliability on the market,” says Silviu Sepciu, Head of Communication, Dacia. “And it has developed not only a model to address a single niche but a whole range of models that cover some of the most important market segments, from the supermini segment, with the Sandero and the Sandero Stepway, through the mainstream Logan sedan and its estate car version to the highly successful Duster SUV. In fact the Duster is today the best-selling Dacia model, with some 500,000 units sold worldwide.”

First choice

Dacia’s success was firmly underlined in 2012 when it was identified as the most reliable auto marque by the publication Que Choisir following a survey of almost 30,000 drivers in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Taking first place among 31 other brands, the Dacia range won out over such prestigious brands as BMW, Mercedes and Toyota.

It was also in 2012, eight years after the launch of the Logan and the beginning of a new era for Dacia, that the company presented the new Logan and the new Sandero at the Paris Motor Show. The new models feature a completely new, more modern design, specifically aimed at the expectations of today’s European driver, as well as a new range of engines, including a 90 BHP 0.9 litre petrol unit, and advanced equipment such as the Medianav satnav system. Like the rest of the Dacia range, the New Logan and New Sandero come with a threeyear or 100,000 kilometre warranty.

When the Logan was first launched plenty of industry commentators thought that Renault was taking a huge chance in producing a car specifically aimed at developing markets. But it proved not only spectacularly successful in its original target markets but a fast seller in the sophisticated – and crowded – markets of Western Europe. Now, with a comprehensive range of eight different models, Dacia has taken its place as Renault’s worldwide second brand, bringing the same kind of brand extension to the group as Skoda has done for many years for VW. It was indeed the way to go. n