After ten years under Renault and three years in the UK, the 3,500,000th Dacia has been sold in the UK.

• In just over ten years, Dacia has won over more than 3,500,000 customers in Europe and the Mediterranean basin
• The 3,500,000th Dacia sold was a Sandero Stepway purchased by Jody Panov, a customer of SMC Dacia, Aldershot
• Denis Le Vot, Sales & Marketing Senior Vice President for Europe G9, handed over the car’s keys at the dealership on Friday 6^th November 

Almost three years after its launch in the UK, the 3,500,000^th global Dacia customer was handed the keys to her Sandero Stepway by Denis Le Vot, Groupe Renault’s Sales & Marketing Senior Vice President for Europe G9, at SMC Dacia in Aldershot, Hampshire on Friday.

Jody Panov, a married mother of two, is now the happy owner of a Dacia Sandero Stepway – the first new car she has ever purchased – the 3,500,000^th Dacia sold since the brand’s revival in 2004.

Jody took an interest in the Sandero Stepway after her parents returned from a trip to Turkey. During their trip, Jody’s parents saw many Dacias on the road and suggested that their daughter find out more, because they 'seemed like good cars’. Above all, it was the Dacia supermini’s design that won Jody over when she visited the SMC Dacia dealership to investigate, and, as a result, ordered the Sandero Stepway!

“Today we are handing over the key to the 3.5 millionth Dacia and I am very pleased to be doing so in the UK, where the brand was launched in 2013,” said Le Vot. “In reaching this milestone of 3.5 million customers, Dacia confirms its success thanks to a clear and simple promise that perfectly meets the expectations of customers seeking safe, reliable cars with modern features and services at affordable prices.”

Also in attendance at the handover was Managing Director of Group Renault UK, Ken Ramirez: “Dacia has enjoyed fantastic success in the short period since it launched in the UK and is now the country’s first choice ‘smart buy’ car brand. Dacia is young and fresh, but above all, it offers the consumer ‘shockingly affordable’ value for money with a no-nonsense approach to purchasing a safe and reliable new car. Mrs Panov is now one of 3.5 million customers who agree with the Dacia way of motoring, and I hope she and her family enjoy their brand-new Dacia Sandero Stepway.”

Jody said: “The Sandero Stepway is the ideal family car for us and I love the looks and how it’s got a good level of standard equipment with sat nav and parking sensors. I couldn’t believe how affordable it was and when I was at the dealership to place the order, I kept thinking there must be some hidden cost somewhere! Then finding out that I was the 3.5 millionth person to buy a new Dacia was even more of a surprise.”

SMC Dacia in Aldershot has represented Dacia ever since the brand was launched in the UK, and the family-owned dealer group also operates a further Dacia dealership in Weybridge.

Mike Jeffs, General Manager, SMC Dacia, Aldershot, commented: ‘We’re extremely pleased to present Mrs Panov with the 3.5 millionth Dacia and she joins the ever-increasing amount of customers who we have introduced to the brand, our sales growing year-on-year as more and more drivers recognise the brand’s unrivalled blend of value and quality.”

In the UK, Dacia regularly outperforms much larger and well-established brands in its segment thanks to strong Sandero, Duster and Logan sales, with over 62,000 Dacias sold in the UK since its launch in April 2013. Mrs Panov certainly isn’t alone in her purchase of the Sandero, as the most popular vehicle in the line-up has sold more than 37,000 examples in under three years. October year-to-date, Dacia sales represented 21,804 vehicles, increasing by 5.7 per cent compared to last year.

It’s a similar situation of growth in Europe for Dacia, with sales increasing by 5.5 per cent during the first half of the year to 205,436 units. In France, Dacia steadfastly remains in fifth place on the passenger vehicle market, with 5.3 per cent of market share, and in fourth place overall for retail customer sales.