8:15 am, July 1, 2026
Dacia has slashed a whopping £4,000 off the price of its Spring electric city car making it the UK’s cheapest new car on sale – just 24 hours after Leapmotor claimed the title.
The Romanian brand has lowered the car’s entry price to £11,990 – £1,000 cheaper than its chief competitor, the Leapmotor T03, and £4,000 less than the petrol-engined Kia Picanto.
Chinese brand Leapmotor announced on June 30 that it had doubled the size of its ‘Leap-Grant’ to £3,000 on its T03, lowering the price to £12,995. At the time it was the UK’s most affordable new car and came soon after Leapmotor celebrated reaching 10,000 registrations in the UK.
But just 24 hours later Dacia slashed the RRP of the Spring, prompting a new price-war in the battle for the UK’s unofficial cheapest car award.
The new sub-£12k Spring comes with a boosted range thanks to a range of updates introduced in late 2025. It manages 140 miles of range thanks to a new 24.3kWh LFP battery pack, while top-spec Extreme Electric 100 cars got a new 99bhp electric motor.
The base-spec Spring Expression Electric 70 gets rear parking sensors, a digital driver’s display, air conditioning, cruise control and a range of safety features.
The Leapmotor T03, meanwhile, uses a 37.3kWh battery pack to give a range of 165 miles.
The Chinese car only comes in one high-spec trim level, and gets a panoramic glass roof with electric blind, a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, LED headlights, rear parking camera and sensors, and keyless start.
Lina Ribeiro, Dacia brand director for the UK, said: ‘Dacia has always worked hard to remove barriers to new car ownership, and with Spring’s new pricing, it takes our purpose further than ever.
‘Production efficiencies and a strong drive to continue to offer real value to our customers have helped us pass on the savings and as such the most affordable new car on the market, electric or otherwise, is one of the smartest value choices on the road today.
‘When the price is clear and the running costs are low, going electric simply makes sense.’
