Car price war kicks off as new firm hits the market

Francie Barrett

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/car-price-war-kicks-off-as-new-firm-hits-the-market-3168777.html

A MOTORING price war was sparked here yesterday when a new manufacturer hit the Irish market.

Romanian marque Dacia, owned by Renault, fired the first shots by announcing prices to undercut one of the most popular cars in Ireland by up to 35pc -- or nearly €8,000.

And it promised to do the same with several more over the coming 18 months as new models arrive and its network expands.

Prime target for the low-price marque's 1.5-litre diesel (€225 road tax) Duster model is the hugely successful family crossover Nissan Qashqai. But others in its sights include the Skoda Yeti, Ford Kuga and Hyundai ix35.
Dacia says the entry-level Qashqai model it is targeting starts at around €22,745 but announced its Duster will cost €14,990. Both prices exclude delivery and related charges (which Dacia is capping at €600).

Significantly, it also expects those who normally buy second-hand to be tempted by the three-year warranty of a new car.

smash

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Don`t see how its a price war? Its a budget brand that wont have the quality of the other cars mentioned in the article.

I agree. Perodua are here as a budget brand and haven't made a dent on sales for other brands so far.

Tabnabs

No radio and no a/c in the entry level model according to UK reviews.

Is it worth buying just to have a new car...

no!

Henry Ford III

Dacia is the new Skoda/Hyundai/Kia?

mike65

Wait till the Chinese decide to take on the European market properly, as they are looking to do.

Francie Barrett

Tabnabs wrote: »

No radio and no a/c in the entry level model according to UK reviews.

Is it worth buying just to have a new car...

no!

It has more boot space than a Qashquai though :cool:

testicle

I don't mind as long as they bring in the Sandero.

Francie Barrett

mike65 wrote: »

Wait till the Chinese decide to take on the European market properly, as they are looking to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi3ZGKHNgQ0

I wouldn't even look at a Chinese car until they address their appalling safety record.

bijapos

Dacia will do well here, a lot of Renault parts so they are not totally unknown.

Ironically they will probably hit Renault and their cut price Clio's and Meganes hardest of all European manufacturers.

The fact that they don't have a/c is unimportant in Ireland, missing a radio would be a bigger problem, they should at least offer a base radio/cd as standard.

fletch

Francie Barrett wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi3ZGKHNgQ0

I wouldn't even look at a Chinese car until they address their appalling safety record.

I agree although that video is a head on into a brick wall at 75mph

Littlehorny

Francie Barrett wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi3ZGKHNgQ0

I wouldn't even look at a Chinese car until they address their appalling safety record.

Agree with you on the safety of chinese cars but any car is going to be totalled in a 120kph crash into concrete, did you ever see the video of Fifth Gear crashing a Ford Focus into concrete at 120kph/75mph?
The car was only 3 ft long, looked like it had been put through a crusher.

The Tyre Dude

I've no doubt it will shake things up a bit if priced like that, no harm in that.

From Car:

Cheap, cheerful... How does the Dacia Duster drive?
Pretty well actually. This is an uncomplicated car based on Dacia's no-nonsense Logan hardware. The four-wheel drive version has different rear suspension and will challenge mountain goats for go-anywhere cred. We drove one on an off road course designed by Dacia to ensure it wouldn't get stuck and - guess what - it's grippy and grunty enough to get up and down the most ridiculous angles. Mini SUV plaudits intact.

How does the Duster perform on road?
Of rather more import are the road manners. This car will sell to families and those wanting practicality on a budget. And this is where the new Duster scores highly. The cabin is large, the boot clutter-dispatching, and the cabin plastics so rubbish you won't mind scratching them.

We drove the 2wd 1.5 diesel first (four wheel drives will be minority interest in the UK) which stands out for a cushty ride. This is a comfy place to sit, and refined too. Wind bluster from the brick dynamics is the biggest intrusion.

It's entirely as you expect to drive: thrills are few and far between and three cheers to that. It steers accurately enough and there's something of The Van about the gearchange, but the structure feels really stiff and the car rides patchy African roads and tracks with aplomb.

Padraig Mor

A cut price Qashqai from the same group with the same frugal diesel engine? Available from €149 a month on balloon finance with a small deposit? I think it could sell VERY well.

mailforkev

Well as we all know here, Irish folk like the newest, biggest, cheapest car they can find. Equipment levels and interior materials also aren't too high up the checklist looking at the amount of base models sold here.

The Duster could turn out to be the ultimate Paddy spec car. If it had a Toyota badge on it I suspect all sales records could be broken.

My father told me a while ago that there are loads of them in France where the folks have a place, and that he was pleasantly surprised when he had a look at one.

Cookie_Monster

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I think it could sell VERY well.

it's no Avensis, I'll tell you that.

Boom_Bap

I went to Romania a few years ago and Dacia's where everywhere. I think the Taxi's and police cars where Dacia's.

Since then I've noticed them springing up all over mainland Europe. The weekend before last I noticed a huge amount of them on the Autobahn in Germany.
I've even seen some in Kenya!

I also recall that this was the brand of car that David May fell in love with on a top gear episode.

I'd like to give a Duster a spin.

Eric Cartman

1. fake 4x4 look - check
2. miniscule diesel engine - check
3. low road tax - check
4. cheap to buy - check

honestly id say these will sell really well, it checks all the boxes for poverty spec paddy

Henry Ford III

Boom_Bap wrote: »

...I also recall that this was the brand of car that David May fell in love with on a top gear episode.

I'd like to give a Duster a spin.

James May shirley?

whomitconcerns

very popular her in Bucharest. And they are a good car. A bit plasticy but I know from friends that they definitely do the job. Just dont buy them in brown!

And yes dacias are VERy popular here, the dacia logan is probably 40% of the cars on the roads!!

paddy147

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Don`t see how its a price war? Its a budget brand that wont have the quality of the other cars mentioned in the article.

James May likes the Dacia.;)

MuppetCheck

This will appeal to many - no frills, cheap transport.

As for the Paddy spec bit - look at the price ffs, something has to give. You can't look at a car like this and write it off due to the spec. I'm sure higher spec models will be available but in my opinion they miss the point of the car entirely. It's not aiming to beat the opposition, it's a cheap and cheerful option and marketed as such. No one will ever aspire to own one but for what it is there is definitely a market.

The Tyre Dude

Now if they could just bolt 2 extra seats on the back...

paddy147

Lord rest my father....but he allways said,as long as it has 4 wheels,an engine,a steering wheel and goes around corners that good enough for him.

He was never one for fancy leccy gadgets....More electrics meant more problems (in his opinion)

He was a simple man who just was happy with the basic things in life.



He was a VW Beetle fanatic too (the only good thing Hittler ever did for the world).

Sleepy

Add relentless plugging James May has done for Dacia on Top Gear to the small engines, cheap price tag, decent warranty and I think they'll sell really well.

(he may have been taking the piss but his positive attitude to them will have stuck in the mind of your average Irish car buyer who's interest in cars begins and ends with Top Gear)

Zubeneschamali

I've driven a Sandero on holidays, and it drives just like what it is, a cut-price Renault.

Marcusm

Built on the sae Nissan platform as the Juke, Tiida and Leaf with a Nissan AWD system And a Renault diesel engine, it is a cut price Qashqai/Juke. Saw lots of them on the roads in France earlier in the year.

quad_red

Littlehorny wrote: »

Agree with you on the safety of chinese cars but any car is going to be totalled in a 120kph crash into concrete, did you ever see the video of Fifth Gear crashing a Ford Focus into concrete at 120kph/75mph?
The car was only 3 ft long, looked like it had been put through a crusher.

I remember that, it was shocking. But they crashed the Focus at 120mph / 193km/h.

FrontDoor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dI5ewOmHPQ

Top Gear crash.

Bigus

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Don`t see how its a price war? Its a budget brand that wont have the quality of the other cars mentioned in the article.

It mightn't have the gadgets but if it's a basic diesel Renault

without the electronic key

Without the poxy electric handbrake

and it has good window regs

a decent reliable gearbox

it'll be

the BEST Renault since the 4 and the 16

Lagunas and meganes would be twice the cars they could have been WITHOUT that stupid electronic key and all it's associated problems and idiosyncrasies that gave them such a bad name.
So roll on traditional key Dacia with a proper handbrake, sometimes less can be more.

paddy147

FrontDoor wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dI5ewOmHPQ

Top Gear crash.

5th Gear actually...totaly different car/motoring programme.;)

Cicero

Tons on these on mainland Europe.

Reckon rental firms will love them which will get them out en masse to the wider population quickly. Looks like we'll be blasted with add campaigns over the coming months to get the name out there- hell, this thread has already begun the process..

colm_mcm

Really annoys me that TopGear pronounce it Day-see-ah, when it's pronounced Dah-chi-ah

Pottler

My old man always went for cars like these, he'd no real interest in anything but getting from a-b and used to say you got a new car for secondhand money and feck the badge. When are these being launched, or are they on sale already?

colm_mcm

here are 9 Dacia dealers listed on their (awful) website

www.dacia.ie

L1011

Have the Perodua dealers (wisely) shut up shop? Can't find any of them still going.

When I was getting prices on vans, Renault Belgard seemed quite pleased to be getting Dacia, I suspect it'll do OK if only because sales will convince people "It's a Nissan, really".

colm_mcm

i don't think there were ever any proper Perodua dealers, Daihatsu (which is what Peroduas pretty much are) left Ireland last year (?), they were way more established here, but there was no market for them.

For Forks Sake

colm_mcm wrote: »

here are 9 Dacia dealers listed on their (awful) website

www.dacia.ie

http://www.dacia.ie/about-dacia/dacia-way/

We are Dacia.

We believe that affordable shouldn’t have to mean compromise.

On quality, services or smiles.

So we’ve made an enemy of the unnecessary.

Our simple range of cleverly-designed cars uses only useful technology.

Which means you only pay for what you need.

Our prices are clear and transparent.

Because the Dacia way is your way.

Simple. Intelligent.

It’s what made us the fastest growing car brand in Europe since 2004

sounds like the Mister Sparkle ad from The Simpsons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnaLRbbc-54

Pottler

colm_mcm wrote: »

here are 9 Dacia dealers listed on their (awful) website

www.dacia.ie

I quite like awful! I drive a pile of sh1te by choice(there's a yard full of vehicles outside for work), somthing I inherited from my auld lad - he spent his working life in Tesco jeans and a cheap anorak, - when his job sent a jag around as a company car, it sat unused on the driveway, slowly gathering moss and he drove his own Fiat 127 instead.
The whole car/style thing kinda goes over my head, we've had more fun scuttering around the country in bangers on the verge of collapse than we ever had in any of the new/posh cars I've owned. It's kind of a standing joke at family weddings etc, what will I turn up in. I also don't really do the status symbol bit, I bought a lovely Merc once on impulse and spent half my time listening to "ooh, look at that, what did that cost you??" comments. A Duster may well do me nicely, and I highly doubt I will be alone. Then again, they may be pure crap.:D

colm_mcm

The website itself is awful. there's no content and the Dacia Finance link doesn't even work. so you click the link on the €149 a month bit, or the €14990 bit, or the picture, and nothing happens.

No specs listed, nothing.



Also, who doesn't drive a free Jag?

Pottler

colm_mcm wrote: »

The website itself is awful. there's no content and the Dacia Finance link doesn't even work. so you click the link on the €149 a month bit, or the €14990 bit, or the picture, and nothing happens.

No specs listed, nothing.



Also, who doesn't drive a free Jag?

My auld lad. Anyone who enjoys their sausages or black/white puddings that are made in Ireland almost certainly owes that taste/recipe to him as he helped develope most of the recipes/processes for the big processing plants in this country(think Roscrea/Dennys etc.) - he was into work, not cars:D You're dead right about the website, it's crap! But, Joe Mallon is a dealer, so I'm gonna nip in tomorrow and have a goo. Missus just poked me in the ribs and said it better be black or silver!

Leonard Hofstadter

The 'no haggle' policy won't work in Ireland either!

I think there is a large market for this kind of car - basic, no frills but reliable transport - as Toyota's success in Ireland proves.

colm_mcm

Pottler wrote: »

My auld lad. Anyone who enjoys their sausages or black/white puddings that are made in Ireland almost certainly owes that taste/recipe to him as he helped develope most of the recipes/processes for the big processing plants in this country(think Roscrea/Dennys etc.)

Denny/Roscrea puddings are mank
Sausages are quite nice though so he wasn't wasting all his time

BrianD3

I read in this weeks Sunday Business Post that the Sandero will start from 6k here. I haven't seen this figure anywhere else and it is hard to believe that the car would be that cheap. 8 or 9k would sound more realistic.

So, Dacia have finally made it to Ireland with the Duster at least. 6 years after I started this thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055005989

Ireland is a very different place now than it was in 06 and I'd imagine there is a more favourable attitude to "cheap nasty sh*te" now (and a less favourable attitude to junkyard's X5, just as I predicted )

johnf2020

I sat in a Duster in France in 2010..It was like sitting into a 00 Megane.. Comfortable, basic and sturdy in a flimsy sort of way if you know what I mean. They cant make enough of them in Romania to satisfy demand that is why RHD production is coming from India as that will be its biggest RHD Market.
Officially its not on sale until Jan 2013, but they are really only testing the waters with LHD cars. Its the same for the UK..Their website is much better.

The BIGGEST problem I see for Dacia in Ireland is badge snobbery..How have we gone from putting up with any oul ****e, to putting an accent on how Toyota is pronounced in one generation. No wonder the country is ****ed.

TURRICAN

mike65 wrote: »

Wait till the Chinese decide to take on the European market properly, as they are looking to do.

Good old made in china!

pburns

colm_mcm wrote: »

The website itself is awful. there's no content and the Dacia Finance link doesn't even work. so you click the link on the €149 a month bit, or the €14990 bit, or the picture, and nothing happens.

No specs listed, nothing.

Is it just me or do you seem to have a downer on the whole Dacia marque. I tell ya I'd go for the 4wd Duster for winter, light off-road, 'practical' trips and something nice and RWD for the rest of the time.

johnf2020 wrote: »

...It was like sitting into a 00 Megane.. Comfortable, basic and sturdy in a flimsy sort of way if you know what I mean.

A 00 Megane sturdy:eek:? No it needs to be better that a 00 Megane. The fact it wont have over-ambitious, semi-developed electronics should help. The 1,5d has a decent rep.

johnf2020 wrote: »

They cant make enough of them in Romania to satisfy demand that is why RHD production is coming from India as that will be its biggest RHD Market.

I thought the were making the RHD for India not in India. If it's a different factory to the LHD models I'd need a little re-assurance quality up to scratch.

I really like the idea of this car and see it as a 21st century R4 or 2CV. If they prove reliable and safe I'd strongly consider one.

carbon nanotube

entertainment ideas wrote: »

Good news for consumers!

for people who want Romanian cars that is.

colm_mcm

pburns wrote: »

Is it just me or do you seem to have a downer on the whole Dacia marque. I tell ya I'd go for the 4wd Duster for winter, light off-road, 'practical' trips and something nice and RWD for the rest of the time.

Nope, don't have a downer on Dacia, I've been to Romania, and been in Dacias old and new. With Renault behind them on the marketing front, you'd think they could have done better than the website they've come up with. I could make a better website than that.

I would assume that the 4WD model will be front wheel drive with 4WD on demand to the back wheels?

I doubt they'll actually offer a 4WD model in Ireland though.

Tazio

Dacia Duster eh? With a name like that they'll definitely clean up here...

sorry......:p

Personally it wouldn't be my thing, but yea as a cheap and cheerful A-B type of car that's a great formula and they'll probably sell a heap of them.

Someone above made a point about being a good winter car.... tbh that's got me thinking... If they're 14k new, imagine what you'd pick one up for 4 or 5 years old!

MuppetCheck

carbon nanotube wrote: »

for people who want Romanian cars that is.

And what's wrong with a car built in Romania?

colm_mcm

The UK (Who lets be fair weren't the best at making well built cars) proved that it doesn't matter where the cars are built as long as the processes are right and the components are the right quality.