Dacia celebrates 10 years in Ireland. Having arrived here in 2012, albeit in left-hand drive, now Dacia is a mainstream volume brand in Ireland.
January 2013 saw the first registrations for the Sandero and Duster with the Stepway following in March and the Logan MCV in September.
In 2016 Dacia registered its 10,000th vehicle in Ireland, just three years after its first. The models progressed and the volumes went up and in 2019, with 20,000 Dacia vehicles registered here. Today, more than 30,000 Dacia vehicles have been registered in Ireland.
The brand has also won awards. The Sandero was the Irish Compact Car of the Year in 2022 and ranks third in the B segment year to date, while the bestselling model Duster ranks eighth in the competitive C-SUV segment.
The Dacia range was expanded this year with the launch of the new Jogger, the seven-seater family car.
Dacia now commands 3.2 per cent of overall market share, an impressive achievement for a car brand that has been on the Irish market for just 10 years.
It has also introduced the new Dacia Bigster Concept, which embodies the Dacia brand evolution announced this year, taking the company to new customers and segments.
The Bigster Concept is roomy, robust, and meant for open air and dusty roads. Dacia says the 4.6-metre-long SUV makes the C-segment accessible, delivering a larger, more capable vehicle at the cost buyers would expect from the segment below and soon to be made a reality in 2024.
Dacia came to Ireland at a time when banks were not lending, and thanks to Mobilize Financial Services, formerly Dacia Bank, more than €300 million has been lent to new and used Dacia customers since 2013 with some €130 million lent to Duster customers.
Paddy Magee, country operations director at Dacia Ireland, says the brand has evolved since its introduction here.
"We are so proud of Dacia which has grown in the past 10 years into an established, trusted and smart buy brand in Ireland.
“From the first media test drives in the left-hand drive Dusters in 2012, to the award-winning Sandero and new Jogger seven-seater, the best-selling Duster, and amazing concepts like the Bigster which will see production in 2024, and Manifesto, which will be a lab for future features on our cars, the brand has really evolved.”
