6:53 am, November 25, 2023
Dacia’s online car sales platform will resume trading today after being shut on Black Friday, despite early suggestions the day was the busiest of its type.
The budget carmaker closed its online sales portal yesterday (Nov 24) to ‘highlight the commitment of offering its range of cars at the best value for money all year round’, it said. Dacia will reopen the platform’s doors today.
The decision came after survey of 2,003 people conducted by the firm which revealed that 46 per cent of respondents are resisting purchases during Black Friday due to being sceptical of the deals on offer. A further 18 per cent wanted to be more cost-conscious with their spending, too.
Luke Broad, Dacia brand director for the UK, said: ‘At Dacia, Black Friday is just a normal Friday. Shutting down our online sales for the day is a bold move but it does show our commitment to being the UK’s number one car manufacturer for value.
‘This is a way to put our money where our mouth is. Black Friday can easily lead consumers to overspend on products they don’t need – which isn’t what Dacia is about.’
A further 73 per cent of respondents said that they could get good value year-round if they looked carefully enough, with 64 per cent of those spoken to believe they were ‘savvy shoppers’.
Over half believe that they have a good gut instinct when it comes to avoiding dodgy deals, too.
Dacia’s decision to close down online sales came before new figures suggested Black Friday this year was the ‘busiest ever’.
Nationwide Building Society said that sales volumes on Friday show people have been making more purchases than this time last year.
By 5pm, customers had made 6.66m transactions – 11% higher than a typical Friday and 3% more than Black Friday last year.
The latest data also means spending is 12% more than the same day in 2021, Nationwide said.
Car Dealer Live tickets have been cut by 30% in a limited time Black Friday deal which ends at midnight on Monday – click here for more details
