Dacia will only fully electrify itself if it absolutely has to, and thus keep the prices of its cars at an affordable level for its customers, according to the brand’s sales and marketing director, Xavier Martinet. Dacia extended this promise to hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains as well.
“The question is not technical, we can put this technology in our cars, we have this [hybrid] Technology on the Clio and the Captur, we can use it tomorrow on the Jogger or Sandero. “
Both cars share the same CMF-B platform that accepts hybrid technology, but Martinet believes this is not the right solution for Dacia’s customers now or in the short to medium term for cost reasons.
“The question is economic,” he said. “Are customers willing to pay 3,000 to 4,000 euros more for a hybrid when they could actually only buy a gasoline version or an LPG version that costs only a few hundred euros more and does the trick in terms of CO2 emissions?
“I don’t think our customers are actually asking about a specific technology – maybe it’s different from electric for some of the population, but otherwise, when you look at the crowds, people aren’t really asking about a specific technology. They want a car that meets their needs and allows them to go where they want at the right price.
“The approach that Dacia is taking is very interesting and with the coming regulations – Euro 7 and ADAS – vehicle costs will increase, but employee salaries will not increase at the same rate.”
Martinet believes it will not be Dacia customers who will enjoy this type of technology and hopes that a wider group of customers will turn to the brand thanks to the value for money that Dacia offers.
The head of sales and marketing added that Dacia “will be electrified when we have to and electric when we have to. Why should we move to a technical solution that customers may not want to buy? The extra charge is much more.
“We’ll have it in our cars if we need to so that customers can drive downtown and not have to pay a fine, but it’s really a question of economy.”
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