Automotive & Heavy Vehicles
Polished performance The Dacia Duster leads the SUV field, now the Dacia Duster 4X4 Commercial has been named the best 4X4 van for the third year running at the 2108 ‘What Van?’ publication awards. Dacia’s Logan MCV is also taking the market by storm in what is probably the most difficult year to date for the automotive industry, as Philip Yorke reports.
D
acia is Romania’s largest and most successful auto manufacturer. In 1968 the first Dacia1100 car was produced under licence from Renault. Following privatisation, its remarkable success resulted in Renault purchasing 51 per cent of the company’s share capital. Today Renault holds 99.43 per cent of Dacia’s equity. Since 2004, Dacia has introduced eight new vehicles to the market including the Sandero, Sandero Stepway, Logan MCV 4X4 Commercial and the Duster. The Dacia Duster remains the number one selling car for Renault worldwide.
At Mioveni, Romania, located 80 miles north-west of Bucharest, Dacia operates one of Europe’s biggest vehicle manufacturing plants for Renault. To date the total investments made by Renault in Automobile Dacia exceed €2.5 billion. This has resulted in it gaining the position of the biggest single contributor to the Romanian economy. Today Automobile Dacia also has the highest turnover of any company in Romania. Its mission is to produce an exciting range of robust, reliable and accessible vehicles for the domestic and overseas markets, in keeping with Renault’s highest quality standards. Industry Europe 65
