Renault builds plant in Morocco for two new Dacia models

Dacia range, now including three models, Sandero, Logan and the future SUV Duster, will expand by two models by 2012, to be assembled both at the plant of Mioveni, and at the future plant of Tangier, Morocco.

"The plant in Tangier, Morocco, to be finalised in 2012, will manufacture two new models, with Dacia range due to be expanded," said Jacques Chauvet, general manager for the Euromed region (Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Moldova and North Africa), who also holds the non-executive position of Automobile Dacia chairman.

Renault's second plant in Morocco will have a capacity of 400,000 cars annually and will be built in the wake of investments worth around 1bn euros.

In Morocco, Renault also owns a plant in Casablanca.

Dacia exports this year surged by over 40%, driven by the old car scrappage schemes in Germany and France, which became the biggest markets for the Romanian carmaker.

Chauvet believes Dacia will enter a new period, when clients will no longer choose the brand for its low price, but for its performance.

"When there's a scrappage scheme in place, what the dealer sells is the car price. After this programme ends, the product will be what dealers will sell. Such a programme is still needed on the Romanian market, particularly as the car fleet is the oldest in Europe," Chauvet said.

For the following period, he expects Renault group to sell around 500,000 units manufactured on Logan platform under Dacia and Renault brands to be sold in 2010 as well, a volume similar with this year's.

In the first 11 months of this year, the market share of Renault and Dacia, brands that sold almost 45,400 cars on the Romanian market, stood at around 37%, from 35% in the similar period of last year. "It will be difficult for our market share to rise above 38-39%. Our target is to maintain this market share. We expect the Duster model to help us attain our target," Dacia chairman said.