Dacia’s simple but affordable approach is exactly what car buyers want
Deputy editor Richard Ingram explains why Dacia’s back-to-basics approach is resonating with buyers as rivals chase ever more complex tech
I recently spent time with Dacia UK’s inspirational and charismatic brand director, Lina Ribeiro, whose clarity, reflected in the firm she leads, felt like a breath of fresh air in the tech-obsessed car industry.
With the support of the wider Renault Group and the unrelenting success of the popular Renault 5, Ribeiro has the clarity and autonomy to focus on her core customer base: customers who continue to demand tough, affordable, good-value family cars, with simple but efficient petrol (and hybrid) powertrains, plus big boots and just the right amount of interior tech.
European brands, spurred on by the speed and might of Chinese engineering, seem fixated on increasingly complicated cabins, greater screen real estate and fiddly functions. Did anyone ask for this? The average age of a car in the UK in 2026 is 10 years old – up from around seven-and-a-half a decade ago. Are cars more reliable? Or is it because drivers are shunning these over-engineered, long-range electric cars for their trusted, family hatchbacks?
Last year, UK new-car sales passed two million units for the first time since 2019, but were almost 13 per cent behind pre-pandemic levels. EV adoption is rising, but is far shy of ZEV Mandate targets, as people still snap up ICE models.
Despite Ribeiro confirming her firm will push further into the EV space later this year with the European-built Spring supermini, Dacia will double down on its retail presence with a renewed line-up of multi-energy vehicles that continue to offer everything buyers need, and nothing they don’t. This policy saw the brand claim nearly eight per cent of Europe’s private passenger car market in 2025.
Yes, there is still work to be done on owner satisfaction – as proven by Dacia’s flat-last finish in this year’s Driver Power manufacturer rankings. But with a new generation of product on the horizon, plus a revised focus on quality and reliability, could it be on the brink of something unique?
From the outside, at least as far as the UK is concerned, it looks like Ribeiro has exactly the right product at exactly the right time. Competent, versatile, good-value family cars and SUVs, with compromise-free hybrid powertrains that will be joined by a range of affordable EVs, exactly as the market demands them.
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