Dacia's Up, 'Nault's Down As Low-Cost Romanian Vehicles Cannibalize Their French Overlords
The big winner for Renault in the first half of 2012 was their low-cost Dacia brand, while the losers were…everyone else.
Just-Auto lists the sales breakdown below
“ Renault sold 182,700 light commercial vehicles, up 0.4%.
Renault brand sales fell 2.4% to 1,113,913.
Sales at Renault Samsung Motors brand plunged 41.2% to 33,244.“
The growth of Dacia paints a bleak picture for the French domestic auto industry. Consumers all over the world are jumping at the chance to own one of these well-built, well-priced pseudo-Renaults, whether they’re in India or England. French pundits don’t like it one bit, and are worried that their own auto industry will be decimated by the rise of the Romanian lineup.
And they should be. The Dacias are the right car (cheap, stylish, well-made) at the right time (an eyelash away from total economic meltdown in Europe). If a car purchase is even on your radar right now, would you pay full price for a Renault Scenic, or get an almost-as-good Dacia Lodgy? The middle, where Renault competes, is DOA right now and for as long as Europe’s economy is FUBAR.
But Dacia cars can only stay cheap as long as they’re built outside of France, or other countries that pay enough to sustain a middle class lifestyle. That means that jobs are going back to the former French colonies in Africa. Morocco and Algeria might end up being Renault’s hot new manufacturing base. But nobody thought the Indians would own Jaguar Land Rover in the time of the Raj, did they?
More by Derek Kreindler
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It is funny to me that the photo above is that of a rebadged Dacia as the Renault. On another note, If someone is looking at a used car and a new one even with decontended features is within financial reach yet it still looks good, there is a good chance it will sell well. Very well.
Nowadays one should really take Renault-Nissan-Dacia-Samsung as a unit. The March/Micra is sold as a Nissan in some markets and as a Renault in others. The same for the Logan. In Brazil and other countries in South America even a Samsung is sold as a Renault (the Fluence). In Brazil, Renault-Nissan now commands slightly above 10% of the market. As a whole, they are now bigger than Ford. The French may not like it, but apparently Renault will be limited to Europe and South America, while Dacia will be a low-cost brand in Europe, while Nissan will be in North America and Asia with a spinkling in Europe and South America. A sale is a sale, right?
the problem is that the West can generally only build middle to upper spec vehicles given the profit margins the world needs cheap cars that can only be built in places with low labour costs this afflicts everyone not just the French we want Thai, Mexican, Indian and even Chinese cars