8:07 am, March 20, 2025
Dacia dealers are set for an influx of customers as the brand launches its most important car to date – the Bigster.
The C-segment SUV is a direct rival to the Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai and will undercut its competition on price.
At the international launch for the new car, Luke Broad, Dacia UK brand director, told Car Dealer that Bigster has been available to order in dealers for the last two weeks and has already secured ‘300 sales’.
‘The best spec Bigster will be available at the same price as an entry level Qashqai,’ explained Broad.
‘It starts at £24,995 and a PCP deal is available with a £350 deposit and £350 monthly payments for four years – it is a very compelling offer.’
The Bigster is being unveiled to the press this week, but driving impressions are under embargo until next week. Cars arrive with dealers in April and will be delivered to customers in May.
There’s a distinct confidence at Dacia that the Bigster will eventually become its best selling model. That may take ‘four to five years’, say execs, but the model firmly launches the company into the largest selling car segment.
C segment SUVs account for three million sales annually across Europe, Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot told Car Dealer, and it’s this huge opportunity that the brand plans to seize.
‘Up until now Dacia has been swimming in the baby pool, the child’s swimming pool, with its model range,’ he said.
‘With Bigster we will be able to swim in the adult pool at last. Bigster launches in the middle of the table and extends our offer.’
Broad explained that of the 300 orders already taken in the UK, 90% of buyers had opted for the highest specification, and most expensive, model.
‘We are 40-50% ahead of where we expected we would be for this launch,’ added Broad.
He added that some 12,000 people had also ‘registered their interest’ in Bigster by submitting their details on the brand’s website.
Last year, Dacia grew 10% in the UK, retailing 31,500 cars – its ‘best year ever – and Broad expects that to grow considerably as Bigster rolls out of showrooms.
He did admit the name will take ‘some getting used to’, though.
‘When we launched Duster 10 years ago I am sure some people probably wondered why we named a car after a cleaning cloth,’ he joked.
‘But they soon got used to it and I am sure the same will be true of the Bigster.’
He added that Dacia was ‘not pretentious’ about its name either and the firm didn’t care how people pronounce it.
‘Some people say “day-see-a” and others say “dach-i-a”, the latter is technically correct but we really don’t care how people say it – they can say it how they want,’ added Broad.
Rival brands, including Hyundai and Skoda, have chastised buyers for pronouncing their names incorrectly in advertisements.
Dacia explained Bigster models have carefully chosen specifications which were refined after extensive market research of C-segment SUV buyers.
Le Vot revealed customers couldn’t do without things like a ‘powered tailgate’ and electrically adjustable seats, so these were ‘must haves’.
However, to keep costs down, the brand challenged its engineers to do it cheaper and they created a powered boot with a motor in just one strut, rather than the usual two, and seats were powered for height and backrest adjustment, but not reach.
Le Vot added: ‘Some two thirds of buyers are conquest customers, people who are new to the brand, so these little things matter to them.’
The CEO said it was ‘pulling buyers down from upstairs’, referring to owners of premium cars moving to the brand to save money.
‘In 2019 the average cost of a C segment SUV was 29,000 Euros,’ he explained. ‘In 2024 that rose to 38,000 Euros – that’s a big difference and people are looking for change.
‘Bigster is a big opportunity for Dacia.’
Road tests of the new car will hit the press on March 27.
