Renault confirmed the debut of Dacia in the United Kingdom market in 2012. The Renault officials made this announce at the Geneva Motor Show and completed that Duster will be the first Romanian car present in the English market.

The Renault officials didn’t give any details abut the price of Duster in the UK, and have not announced which models will present in the English market after Duster. The French suggested a potential launch of Logan and Sandero in the UK market, but the presence of the two appreciate models has not been confirmed officially.

The debut of Dacia brand in the UK market has been postponed several times in recent years due to unfavorable exchange ratio between the euro and the pound.  The UK Division Director of Renault, Roland Bouchara, said that the quality/price ratio of Dacia models will be attractive to UK customers.

Source: Automarket 

More pictures and news from Geneva on www.daciaduster.org

The electric models, sold under the brand of Electric Motor Cars are based on the chassis and bodywork of Dacia Logan Pick Up or MCV/VAN and will be powered by electric American motors.

The price of the electric Logan Pick Up will start from 34.000 dollars (almost 25.000 euros).

Currently, Dacia produces 6 models of cars, Logan, Logan MCV, Logan Van, Logan Pick-up, Dacia Sandero and Dacia Sandero Stepway.

The Romanian car manufacturer, member of the French Group Renault, sold 311.282 cars last year, up 20.5% over 2008, but sales in Romania have decreased by over 50% to 41.862 cars. Dacia still managed to slightly increase its share on the Romanian market.

The strong increase of sales last year was driven mainly by success in Western Europe, where Dacia has sold over 200,000 cars.

The Logan Tourer has bicolor leather seats cover, wood imitation on the console, a better carpet and a better audio system with MP3 and Bluetooth connectivity. The Logan Tourer will be powered by petrol and diesel engines and will be available in three colors: java brown, mist silver and diamond white.

On the first positions were the Japanese brand Toyota with a reliability index of 96.2% and Lexus wit a reliability index of 94.13%. Dacia got a reliability index of 92.61%.

Dacia was also placed first among the cars with the lowest costs of maintenance and repair, 130 euros per year, compared Mazda (229 euros per year) and Ford (230 euros per year).

The new model, which measures 4.31 meters long and 1.82 meters wide, will be available in 4X2 and 4X4 versions with a gasoline engine of 1.6 liters and 110 horsepower, and two diesel engines of 1.5 liters and 85 horsepower respectively 1.5 liters and 105 horsepower.

Duster has a global ambition and the launch will take place gradually in different regions of the world, after the Logan and Sandero launched plan.

Dacia Duster will be launched in the spring of 201dacia Jordan, dacia Siria, Dacia Lebanon0 in Europe, in Turkey and in Algeria and Morocco. From June 2010, Duster will be launched under the Renault brand in Ukraine, the Middle East (Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon), Egypt and some African countries. The Mioveni factory will produce vehicles for all these markets, both under the Dacia brand, and under the Renault brand. The factory with a current production capacity of 350.000 vehicles per year, will continue to produce other models of the mark.

The Duster expansion will continue in 2011. In the countries of the Persian Gulf will be available under the Renault brand from 2011. Dacia Duster will be produced in Brazil, in the Curitiba factory, along with Sandero, Logan and Stepway models. Vehicles manufactured here will be sold in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
Renault is also studying to return in the U.S. market after 23 year absence.

"We analyse the re-launching opportunities in the U.S., and the model that might influence this decision is the new SUV from Dacia" said Gerard Detourbet, charge entry-level division at Renault.

The first pictures offered for the public present an extreme version of the Romanian model, ready for competition. The competition version of Dacia Duster, anticipates the release of the series model, which will launched in the spring at the Geneva Motor Show.

The Dacia Duster presented in Paris will participate in the famous competition Trophee Andros known for the difficulty of the routs performed on mountain roads covered with snow. The surprise prepared by Dacia is that the famous french driver Alain Prost will drive the Duster in the Trophee Andros. The version driven by Prost will be equipped with an V6 engine capable to develop over 300 horsepower.

The Duster presented in Paris was prepared by Renault Sport Technologies.  The series version of Dacia Duster will have a tubular chassis which houses a three liter engine with  24 valve from the Renault-Nissan range.

In January-October the registration of Dacia cars in France advanced by 38%, compared to same period last year to 48.743 units, reports Mediafax.

Dacia passenger car sales increased by 75% in October, to 6.481 units and at 10 months advanced by 27% to 44.802 cars. 
Dacia  market share increased from 1.7% in October 2008 from 2.8% in the same period this year, and from 1.6% in the first 10 months of 2008 from 2.3% in same period in 2009.
France is one of the largest markets for Dacia, along with Germany and Italy.
In October, the French car market increased by 12% to 242.044 cars registered in November.

Renault aims 3.9% of the Ukrainian market for Logan in 2009, and 4.9% in 2010. In the first eight months of the year, Renault’s market share in Ukraine was 1.6% and Dacia had a market share of 2.3%. The Ukrainian car market is estimated at about 180.000 units in 2009 and will increase by 17% in 2010, according to the general director of Renault.
The Dacia exports reached 130.668 vehicles in the first six months of the year. The most important export market of Dacia is Germany, followed by France and Spain.