“My team says 10% of Duster sales will be the automatic transmission version. I for one estimate the percentage to be 20%,” Hakim Boutehra says.
The dealers have already taken preorders. Sales of the EDC version should account for 15% at least in Europe. Sales of SUVs in France are on the rise and demand for automatic transmission is on the rise and the group saw that with Nissan Qashqai and Renault Kadjar, Hakim Boutehra says.
In comparison, the Easy-R automated manual transmission introduced last year accounts for about 5% of the sale of the Logan and Sandero models.
The launch of EDC Duster comes at a time when automatic transmission cars account for 23% of the entire compact segment, which includes Duster, up from 10% in 2010. An EDC Duster costs EUR1,300 more than a version sporting a manual transmission.
Sales of Dacia rose by 10% to more than 6,000 units in the first quarter, and Duster was the third best-selling model after Logan and Sandero. Sales of the SUV rose 8% to 1,140 units.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)