Dacia sales grow 5.9% as overall market plummets

Dacia posted a 5.9% year-on-year increase in global sales in the first half of 2022 and increased its market share to 3.9% against a backdrop of wider industry decline. Dacia claims it was “the only European brand among the 20 largest brands in the European PC [passenger car] and LCV [light commercial vehicle] market to experience growth”. The Renault-owned Romanian brand sold 277,785 cars in the first six months of the year. Sales of its recently refreshed Dacia Sandero hatchback and Dacia Duster SUV climbed 1.8% and 5.5% respectively year-on-year, while encouraging market debuts were made by its newer models, the Spring electric city car and Jogger compact MPV. The Sandero – Europe’s best-selling car for retail customers since 2017 – accounted for a substantial 112,000 sales, compared with the Duster’s 99,000, the Spring’s 20,000 and the Jogger’s 21,700. The latter two models weren't on sale in the first half of 2020, so year-on-year comparisons aren't available. The Spring (one of Europe’s cheapest EVs) isn't yet available in the UK – although bosses are understood to be campaigning for its launch here – and Dacia recently pulled its line of LPG-equipped cars from UK dealerships in light of gas-supply issues. Dacia managed to boost sales in a market which it says is “heavily marred by the pandemic and electronic components crisis” (new car sales have dipped 14.6% compared to 2021), which it attributes chiefly to market-leading conquest and loyalty rates among its buyers. All of which means Dacia was able to solidify its position as Europe’s third best-selling passenger car brand. In fact, it's the number-one brand in Romania and Portgual, the second in France and the third in Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic. Since January, it has climbed four places in the German market to take the ninth spot, which it says was “the second best growth in the local retail passenger market”. The brand said some 76% of Dacia buyers previously owned a different brand’s car and 64% of existing Dacia customers choose to stay with the brand when renewing their car. Asked if Dacia could improve on that loyalty rating to capture a greater market share, its sales, marketing and operations boss Xavier Martinet told Autocar: "When we compare it with other brands, some of them get close to 60%, but not many, so it’s a very high number. “Roughly 50% go back to Renault. In some cases, people say Dacia steals some customers from Renault, but at the same time, we also have customers who go back from Dacia to Renault, so overall it’s a very strong performance, a very high level of loyalty for the whole group." He added that, of all Dacia buyers, some 60% were new to the Renault Group, and of the rest, 15% previously had a Renault and 25% had a Dacia. “You can see the evolution in the source of our customers," he said. "[There's a] very positive balance between in and out flows for the brand. "Dacia is a net contributor for the Renault Group. Let’s put aside this idea that Dacia is always stealing from Renault and it’s not good for the brand.” The firm recently revealed a new corporate identity and lightly restyled each of its models to show off the new branding. These will be launched after a public debut at the Paris motor show in September.