The cars built on the Logan platform currently account for almost 30% of Renault’s worldwide sales, and this is going to increase after the launch of the second generation of Logan, said Arnaud Deboef, the head of Renault group’s entry program, who reports directly to Carlos Ghosn. Logan II will be sold under all brands of the Renault Nissan alliance.
Therefore, the second generation of Logan launched in Paris this fall and the new models built on its platform will generate more than EUR10 billion revenue for the carmaker according to ZF estimates, based on an average price of EUR10,000 for a model in this range.
Dacia Logan, the “crazy bet” of Louis Schweitzer, launched as the EUR5,000 car continues to surprise the European auto market as it did when it was first launched officially by Renault in 2004.
Eight years after its launch, during which the car codenamed X90 had various names, such as Dacia Logan, Renault Logan, Nissan Aprio in Mexico, Mahindra Verito in India or Renault Tondar in Iran, Logan has become one of the most important platforms of the French group that allowed it to gain ground in countries like Brazil, Colombia and even India and Russia.
There are 11 plants throughout the world where Logan models will be made and replace the old Logan generation with the new one. They include Renault’s plants in Russia, Morocco, South Africa, Brazil and Colombia.
The carmaker expects significant sales volumes from Logan on the markets where the previous generation was sold. It is also interested in gaining new markets like the UK and Ireland and will launch Logan on other markets, as well, Deboef said.
A major event for Dacia will take place early next year when it will launch the new Duster and Sandero in the United Kingdom, and then in Cyprus. Duster also became available in India two months ago and sales are already significant, Renault’s official said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)