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Dacia Logan

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Dacia Logan
Renault/Dacia Logan
Manufacturer: Renault/Dacia
Production: 2004-present
Body Styles: FF compact sedan
Engines:
Predecessor: Dacia 1300
Pars Khodro Paykan
Successor: Still in production
Dacia Logan

The Logan is a low-cost compact automobile produced jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its affiliate Dacia of Romania. The car is intended for sale in developing countries where the population has a lower purchasing power than in developed countries. It was launched in 2004 as the Dacia Logan and will also be sold as the Renault Logan in Russia and in various other markets. Renault originally had no plans to sell Logan in Western Europe, but began importing a more expensive version of the car in June 2005.

The Logan is the end result of Project X90, announced by Renault in 1999 after the buy-out of Dacia in 1998. During a visit to Russia by French President Jacques Chirac, Louis Schweitzer noted that at Lada and Renault dealerships the €6,000 Ladas were selling like hot cakes, while the €12,000 Renaults stayed in the showroom. "Seeing those antiquated cars, I found it unacceptable that technical progress should stop you making a good car for €6,000." (He later revised this target to €5,000.) "I also drew up a list of specifications in three words – modern, reliable and affordable – and added that everything else was negotiable.". However, the cheapest version of the car is priced almost €6,000, and can reach €8,500, depending on equipment and customs duty (the base model for Western Europe, where it is badged as a Dacia but generally sold in Renault dealerships, is somewhat more expensive). As it was designed from the outset as an affordable car, the Logan has many simplified features to keep costs low:

It has 50% fewer parts than a high-end Renault vehicle. In addition to making the car less costly to produce, this also makes it easier and cheaper to repair. It is based on the B platform that is used by the 3rd-generation Renault Clio, Renault Modus and the latest version of the Nissan Micra.

The car replaces many older cars in production, including the Romanian Dacia 1300 series of Renault 12-based cars and Iran's Hillman Hunter-based Paykan. Production is initially of a 4 door sedan, although hatchback, wagon and pickup versions are due to follow. Initial production is in Romania, but the car will also be built in Russia, Iran, Colombia, Morocco, India, and South America. Whether or not the car is badged Dacia or Renault in certain markets depends on the existing presence of the Renault marque in the countries in question. In markets where Renault has a limited presence, like Russia, it will be sold as a Renault. On other markets, like Morocco, the Logan will allow Dacia to make itself known. The Logan is vital to increasing sales of the Renault group to the 4 million mark by 2010.

In June 2005 the car achieved a 3 star rating at the EuroNCAP crash tests. This result confirms initial expectations stated earlier by Renault.

In July 2005, an 'elk-test' driving maneuver conducted by the German ADAC claimed that the lack of an Electronic Stability Program by Dacia Logan makes it roll over when braking in turns while at 65 km/h. More pictures here. However, later that month, the Romanian version of Top Gear repeated the elk-test and, according to the results published on their website, the Logan passed the test at speeds of 72 km/h, 84 km/h and 87 km/h. Article in Romanian [1]. Later, on september 9th, ADAC published the results of further incident investigation, showing that the rollover was actually caused by faulty tires and not by improper car design. It was later admitted by the German testers that the car failed after an unusual number of Elk tests that had worn down the tires of the test car.

Dacia Logan production for 2005 is estimated to be around 150,000 cars [2].

Dacia estimates for 2006 a bussiness over 1,5 Billion euro, with circa 33% more, in comparison with the last year. Annual production will reach 200.000 cars, half for exports.

DACIA LOGAN production

# 2003 2004 2005 2006
1. Cars production (units) 160,000 240,000 320,000 500,000(est.)



References

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