Dacia, Kia and MG have gone from no-hopers to celebrated winners

For those struggling to survive while feeling isolated, skint and unloved, the unlikely trio of Dacia, Kia and MG might just be in a position to offer a little hope and inspiration.

Within the past quarter century, these three firms hit rock-bottom and in effect became homeless orphans but, thankfully, found new parents to adopt them and provide much-needed nurturing and financial stability. The result? Dacia, Kia and MG went from lonely no-hopers to celebrated winners. How so? Because all three have not only found the talent, products and confidence to take on some of the biggest and best car makers in the world, they’ve also sometimes beaten them at their own game. Who’d ever have thought it, eh?

Dacia is one of the finest examples of a zero-to-hero company out there. Born in Romania in 1966 to strict Communist parents, its childhood years were brutal. But since being adopted by France/Renault in 1999, it’s blossomed. There’s no finer proof of this than in the first of our 2024 Driver Power surveys when the Mk2 Dacia Duster introduced in 2017 was voted the undisputed No.1 model for customer satisfaction. Not content with that, the small SUV also came out tops for value and infotainment, connectivity and electrics. Rival manufacturers charging more for their SUVs need to analyse why and how they’re demanding higher prices for products that – according to the paying public – aren’t as satisfying to buy, own and run.

In the same major survey, Kia also did well – far better than fellow Korean Hyundai, the parent who adopted it. Most Kia conversations of late have centred around its impressive but pricey EV6 and EV9. Yet it’s at the lower end of its line-up where the firm enjoys its latest Driver Power successes. Picanto Mk3 is 12th (of 50) overall for customer satisfaction and also won the important City Car category. But the small/medium Sportage hits the spot too. In Mk5 guise it came in at No. 11 in the satisfaction league. More importantly, though, the latest-generation version was the best-selling car in Britain last month and it (or the Ford Puma) is likely be the No.1 seller here by year’s end.

Never-say-die MG isn’t far behind with its ZS and HS models, which have both featured in the Top 10 list of best sellers so far this year. Also, with an impressive 35,732 MGs sold between January and May, the Brit-born firm now under Chinese parenthood has already caught up with and overtaken Skoda, Tesla, Volvo, Peugeot, Renault and Land Rover. And if the likes of Vauxhall, Hyundai, Toyota and Mercedes aren’t petrified that MG might soon do the same to them, they bloody well should be.

Not long ago, Dacia, Kia and MG were considered underdogs. But this is no longer the case. Dacia is the undisputed leader of the bargain-basement pack. Kia is outdoing and outselling its ‘bigger and superior’ parent. And MG is giving its former British cousins – MINI, Jaguar and Land Rover – masterclasses in how to design and build a full range of electric cars and petrol cars, how to price them right, and how to sell them in big numbers.

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