A year ago Dacia launched on the Irish market and caused quite a few ripples in the motor industry.
Arriving amid a recession would normally be seen as risky for most new brands, but not this one. With its shockingly affordable cars, Dacia instantly caught the attention of the cash-strapped Irish motorist and began to make its mark on the market.
Dacia is making small, but interesting, inroads into the Irish motor market with its family crossover the Duster (from €159 a month with Dacia Finance ), which kicked its segment competitors into touch with its super-mini or, in some cases, city-car pricing. Quite simply no other car in the country offers the same price, size and equipment for the money.
Ireland's most affordable car, the Sandero, which Dacia says is available from €99 a month with Dacia Finance, offers impressive cabin space for up to five adults, and a boot capacity of 320 L, yet comes at a price tag of a segment below offering an unrivalled price/size ratio.
Since launch a year ago, almost 1,000 orders have been placed for the Duster and Sandero with the brand taking 1.5 per cent of the retail passenger car market in just a year, ahead of well-established and more premium brands, showing that Irish consumers know a smart buy when they see one.
The success of the brand is down to Dacia’s no nonsense, break-the-rules attitude of eliminating the unnecessary, giving customers the ability to buy exactly what they need and nothing more. All Dacia engines are Band A or B meaning very low road tax, and come with a standard three years, 100,000km warranty, extendable to five years unlimited mileage warranty.
Duster is the sixth bestselling model in its segment and Sandero is achieving 2.3 per cent share in its supermini segment - not bad for a new brand entering the market.
Its popular model range in Ireland will be expanded later this summer with the arrival of the Logan MCV, and in 2014 the Sandero Stepway will join the Dacia family here. The new Logan (photo attached ), will be available in a 1.2 16V 75 petrol, a TCe 90 petrol and a 1.5 dCi 90 diesel. More details to follow at launch.
Dacia is also Ireland’s fastest growing network with 25 dealerships around the country, most recent additions including Bradleys in Galway and JJ Burkes in Mayo.
