Dacia is preparing to launch, most likely in 2012, the new generation of Logan. The French from Renault are preparing to make a hit with a "more German car, more northern, honest as a Volkswagen" and cheap as the "legendary" Logan, the first "global car" of the Romanian car manufacturer.

After the Renault design chief, Larens van den Acker said about the new model, which was codenamed X52, "it will have a German look", the French magazine "La Revue Automobile" presented recently, several images. Of course, we are dealing only with a design study.

"The new car is seen as somewhere between Renault Fluence, Skoda Octavia, VW Passat, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze. At least from a visual standpoint. In other words, the Logan 2 will be low-cost with a "human face". I do not want people to feel ashamed that they are driving a Logan" said Larens van den Acker, the head of design at Renault.

According to the French from "La Revue Automobile", the new Logan might have more in common with Renault Fluence. The Logan2 Will measure 4.60 meters in length, will have a giant 500-liter trunk, and will powered by the new Euro5 engines: H4 and H5 of 1.4-and 1.6-liter, with lower carbon emissions and that consumes less fuel. It is not excluded that the next generation of Logan will bring the first "eco" built exclusively for the developed markets.

The new Dacia Logan 2 will benefit from a range of top class facilities like automatic box, and LED lights, of course for the version models. The French will also bring new colors, from red to yellow and other lighter colors. Currently, Dacia is characterized by gray, black, blue and brown.

The main strengths will be, as with the current model, the competitive price, the large interior and the luggage space, luggage and the road holding.
The French magazine speculates that the standard price of Logan 2 will be 13,000 euros for the 1.6 and 110 HP version and 15,000 euros for the dCi with 85 HP.

"Renault will get a Latin, more emotional design, while the Dacia brand will remain  robust, more northern, focused on reliability. We will have two brands that are not threatening to cannibalize" said the designer.

Referring to the first-generation of Logan, Van den Acker said: "The Logan was a model with a utilitarian side, and people bought it primarily for its price and the space provided. In the future we could offer the model more attractiveness. We do not want people to feel ashamed of their car".

Van den Acker spoke about the next generation of the most important Dacia model: "Not long ago, when we offered to test a few prototypes of next-generation of Logan, the people said that the model is no longer a low cost. This is the evidence that we no longer relate to Logan’s successor as a low-cost model. We will change the name of the platform because we don’t want confusion. The model will provides a perception of quality. Even the interior will be a better one. I think that the proportions will improve and even the design theme. If in case of Renault we need something spectacular, in Dacia we need evolution, because the recipe works".

The Dutch designer has referred to the  Duster when it came to the design of the Dacia Logan: "Currently, the Duster is indeed the most advanced form of the Dacia design. It is a car that is bought not only because of its price. People like his design, so for me it is a good starting point. Therefore, the future Logan will be inspired by the Duster’s line and not the old Logan model" concluded van den Acker.

All the models have a range of 321 kilometers and a maximum speed of 120 km/h, 3 year or 58,000 km warranty, and the Sodium Nickel Chloride battery has a 112,000 km warranty.
The Electric Wagon (Logan MCV) costs 37,300 $, is available in nine colors, has ABS and airbags for the driver and the front passenger as standard. 
The Electric Cargo Van (Logan Van) costs 32,300 $ and is available in six colors and the Electric truck (Logan Pick-up) costs 33,300 dollars and is available in five colors.
All the vehicles sold by EMC are approved in the United States and Europe.

The Logan Cabrio has two doors, is white both inside and outside, and looks great. The Logan front doors were lengthened and the rear doors no longer exits.

On the inside, a white leather covers the seats and a more powerful audio system was installed. The Logan Cabrio only problem is that it doesn’t have a soft or hard retractable roof. Therefore, this model can be used only in the summer, after studying carefully the weather forecast. The Dacia Logan Cabriolet is most likely to remain a concept.

Source: 4Tuning

The Dacia Logan offered gradually six tips of engines, four of which are on petrol: the 1.2 liter engine with 16 valves, the 1.4 MPI engine, the 1.6 MPI engine and the 1.6 engine with 16 valves. The diesel engine range has two units: the 1.5 liter dCi engine with 70 and 85 HP.The Logan first diesel engine offered only 65 HP. Dacia offers also two versions of the Logan on LPG, a system designed to reduce the fuel costs and the CO2 emissions.

Until 12 October 2010, the most popular version of the Dacia Logan remains the sedan produced in 636,212 units. In second place comes the favorite of the Europeans, the Logan MCV and in third comes the Logan Van with only 32,324 units. The least popular member of the Logan family is the Pick-Up model produced in just 19,326 units.

The Project R90 standard version will be powered by an 1.6 liter petrol engine and will have two airbags and a ISOFIX system for attaching child seats. Optionally, the model can be equipped with an ABS, a Radio CD with MP3 and side airbags. As in Romania, the third row of seats is optional. Once launched on the Russian market, the Lada R90 will have a starting price around 350,000 rubles (equivalent to 8.946 euros). For example, a Lada Priora Wagon has a starting price of 320,000 rubles (about 8179 euros), while the Renault Logan model equipped with 1.6 liter engine has a starting price of 365,000 rubles (equivalent to 9.329 euros).

"We have new projects with Volkswagen and Renault. For the future X52 model we will have basically the same engines with small changes. They became more efficient and with lower carbon emissions and lower fuel consumption," said Catalin Tischer, the General Director of Mahle, the supplier of air filters for Dacia and other major European car manufacturers.

The Logan’s successor will have to compete in 2012 with new models that will be launched by Citroen and Peugeot. Besides these, Skoda promises for some time a low cost model that will rival Logan and other major car manufacturers also have in plan to launch a low cost model. It remains to be seen whether the Dacia-Renault will be able to apply the new recipe for success that characterized the Logan model in the case of the second generation. This time, the Romanian car manufacturer has all eyes of the European market fixed on it.

In the next two years, the Russian car manufacturer could launch a B-segment vehicle, developed on a Renault platform and that will be scheduled to sell 300.000 units per year. Also, the Eastern conglomerate could stop producing cars under the Lada brand, and could introduce a new low cost model, estimated at 5000-6000 EUR.

In these circumstances, if all goes according to plan, AvtoVaz could produce by 2015 a total of 900.000 vehicles per year, a figure that will allow to retain its current market share of 25%.

Renault and other shareholders of the AvtoVaz promised that will invest in the Russian car manufacturer approximately one billion euros: 310 million will come from the Russian government and 240 million from the French car manufacturer. Renault will provide also the available technology, the information materials and the production equipment.

The Logan MCV unit number 300.000 has a red color, is powered by an 1.5 dCi engine, it is a version with five seats and will be delivered to a customer in Italy.

In Romania the cheapest Logan MCV cost 8.400 euros with all taxes included. The most expensive version of Dacia Logan MCV is a Prestige version and has a price starting from 12.900 euros, has seven seats and an 1.5 dCi engine.

Dacia and BMW were surpassed by Mercedes with 838  points in the study that measured the levels of customer satisfaction based on four key criteria: vehicle attractiveness (performance, design, comfort), quality and reliability, the maintenance cost (consumption, insurance policies, costs of repair) and the quality of services by  approved repairers.

Dacia Logan was ranked second in the small class models category with 839 point. In the first place of this top was Nissan Note with 846 points and on the third place was Toyota Yaris with 833 points.

The study was conducted during January and March 2010 and was based by 16.330 online interviews by customers who have owned a car for about two years. The models evaluated came from 25 brands and covered all car classes.

Since the launch on the German market in 2005, Dacia sold 150.000 vehicles in Germany until may 2010.