● Firm plots good-value, ultra-practical rival for family hatchbacks● Likely to focus on petrol engines, with hybrids part of the line-up
John McIlroy John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk@johnmcilroy
DACIA is preparing a pair of SUVs – first the all-new Duster, due on sale this summer, then the larger, Qashqai-rivalling Bigster (right) that will land in 2025.
But the value brand is also considering two other family-sized models that could arrive in the second half of the decade, including a regular hatchback that would potentially see Dacia target the Skoda Octavia (Page 6) and Volkswagen Golf.
Known internally as C-Neo, the core vehicle would be positioned alongside, or even slightly above, the seven-seat Jogger, which is actually Europe’s best-selling C-segment (Golf-class) vehicle on retail numbers (excluding fleet sales) alone. It would forego scope for a third row of seats, but feature an Octavia-style ‘notchback’ design, with a semi-saloon profile masking hatchback practicality that trumps that of more compact models, such as the Golf and Vauxhall Astra, on outright load capacity.
Indeed, Dacia believes it can steal sales from these cars on space, price and value – not least because many of them will have switched to more expensive hybrid or EV powertrains by the time C-Neo arrives. We expect Dacia to continue with petrol power.
Our exclusive images show how a C-Neo hatchback could look in production form, taking Dacia’s latest design language, including cues from the Bigster concept, and applying it to a ‘low drive’ profile – Dacia-management phraseology for a non-SUV bodystyle. It’s conceivable that C-Neo could then spawn an estate variant, giving Dacia its second new C-segment model.
Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Dacia Chief Executive Officer Denis Le Vot said that the company is sticking to its plan – announced at Renault Group’s capital markets day in November 2022 – to add cars beyond the Bigster. “What we’re doing right now is going around all of the ideas because we intend to launch one, maybe two more models that will be C-segment in size,” he said. “They would be based on the same platform – CMF-B, period!”
That choice of architecture is only to be expected, because Dacia has already announced that its plans for the rest of this decade are intrinsica
