Renault is to announce the technical specifications and the prices of the second Dacia model sold in the United Kingdom within the month. The carmaker will also announce where the new model will be made. Whereas it had been known that Dacia Lodgy and Dokker would be made in Tangiers since their announcement, now the French officials are still undecided where to assemble the right hand drive Sandero.
“A decision where to assemble the right hand drive Sandero for the UK will be made soon. Chances are it will be made in Mioveni, Romania,” sources close to Automobile Dacia said. The officials of the company had not provided any comment by the time the story was ready for posting.
Moreover, as it did with Duster, the UK division plans on taking orders for the new model once official prices have been announced next month.
As the model has to be adjusted to the specifics of the UK market (right hand side steering wheel and settings for right hand driving), it will therefore not be assembled on the same line as the left hand drive Sandero.
The Duster SUV, which can already be ordered in the UK is made in India, along with the models for that country, which drives on the left, too, because of the costs, said Arnaud Deboeuf, Entry program director with the Renault group. On the other hand, no plant of the group is currently assembling the new right hand drive Sandero.
The only market where the last generation of right hand drive Sandero is made is South Africa. Therefore, to make the new right hand drive model for the UK, Renault would have to choose between Mioveni and Tangiers.
Considering the number of cars registered in the UK last year was 1.94 million, comparable to France, where the market amounted to 2.2 million, Sandero could sell at least 30,000 cars a year, as much as it did in France in 2011.
Were these cars made in Romania, the annual production of the plant would go up by 30,000 units and exports would increase by up to EUR300 million because of the UK market.
The higher production volume would also lead to an increase in the number of employees so as to drive production closer to the 350,000-unit capacity installed in Romania.
The new Logan, Sandero and Sandero Stepway will be made at the Mioveni plant in Romania for the European market, as well as in the Somaca plant in Casablanca, Morocco for the regional market and Tunisia. Sandero will start being assembled at the plant in Tangiers, Morocco in the second half of next year, where Lodgy, Dokker and Dokker Van are being made.
The advantages of the Mioveni plant include start of Sandero assembly almost one year earlier than Tangiers. On the other hand, shipping from Mioveni to UK might cost more than shipping from Tangiers, and also take longer. The Moroccan plant is in a harbor city while in Romania a shipment takes 24 hours by railway to reach the harbor.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)