Dacia balance sheet 2025: light and shade

The good news first: Dacia has won the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia at the second attempt. And then the second piece of good news: last year, the Romanian Renault offshoot sold 697,408 vehicles, 3.1 percent more than in 2024, and achieved a market share of 4.5 percent. As a result, the brand has surpassed the threshold of ten million models produced since the start of production in 2004.

The share of private customers was 7.9%, putting Dacia in second place in Europe in this segment. In 2023, the brand was still in third place at the end of the year. However, Dacia boss Frank Marotte did not want to explain what will happen after the success in the desert rally when presenting the figures for 2025. "We are evaluating the success and will consider the next steps."

The sales figures for the individual models show light and shade. The electric city car Spring improved by 53 percent to 35,034 vehicles sold across Europe, while the Sandero, still the best-selling small car in Europe, found 299,295 customers, a decline of 6.5 percent. The Jogger suffered the biggest drop of 23.6 percent to 73,695 vehicles. The Duster also weakened, with 193,974 models sold (down 9.8 percent). However, the model remains in second place in its segment. In the end, the new Bigster made up for the declines, with 67,573 buyers from a standing start and taking first place among private customers. In addition, 60 percent of the Bigsters sold had a hybrid drive. Electrified drive systems accounted for around 30 percent of the other models, which translates into a total of around 150,000 vehicles.

Marotte explained the decline with a strong reluctance to buy in the three most important markets for its brand. "Sales fell in Romania, Italy and France, particularly at the end of the year, and these three markets account for around 40 percent of our sales. However, we did well compared to our competitors, but without the Bigster we would not have achieved an increase."

This year, Dacia will launch an electric model in the A-segment, which, according to Marotte, "will cost less than 18,000 euros." In the coming years, Dacia will continue to consistently electrify its model ranges and also focus on LPG or LPG drive systems. "LPG remains at the heart of our strategy," explained Marotte. Marotte sees customers for this fuel primarily as customers who "want to avoid CO2 in this transitional period." The LPG models lie between the gasoline and hybrid models in Dacia's pricing policy. This year, the brand will continue its electrification and offer a hybrid or fully electric variant for every model. Towards the end of the year, Dacia also plans to launch two more models in the C-segment, which, according to Marotte, "will be completely different from anything we've done before." (aum)