During this period, Dacia light commercial vehicle sales increased 43.9%, to 15,839 units, according to a Renault press release.
By August 2010, the carmaker had sold almost 30,000 units of its Duster SUV, launched in April. Orders have been placed worldwide for a further 64,000 Dusters.
Dacia has been successful on most markets important to the company, topping the best-selling ranking in Romania and coming in sixth in France, says the press release. In Northern Africa (excluding Egypt), sales climbed 4.5%, to 26,310 units. Dacia’s market share in Algeria has risen by one point to 10.4%, and in Morocco by two points to 20.4%.
As of August 2010, Dacia’s major market is France (76,255 sold), followed by Germany (23,949), Italy (15,368) and Spain/the Canary Islands (14,285).
Dacia’s positive evolution in Western Europe reflects a change in the consumer’s mentality, Renault says. According to a study conducted this year, 29% of Europeans who intended to buy a new car, plan to spend less than EUR8,000.