Dacia falls 17.8% in the first quarter in France, Morocco to blame

The figures at the beginning of the year mark a halt for the Franco-Romanian brand. Between January and March, volumes fell by 17.8% in the Hexagon, particularly for the Sandero (- 22.5%). According to L’argus, this underperformance is directly linked to a winter storm that closed the Strait of Gibraltar for ten days. This blockage of 4,000 trucks has "largely handicapped" the Tangier plant for its supply and exports.

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In addition to the weather conditions, the industrial tool had to adapt to the new Euro 6e-bis environmental standards. These temporary production shutdowns, combined with supply difficulties in Romania and export delays from China for the Spring, have created a logistics bottleneck. Olivier Mornet, director of Dacia France, admits pragmatically: "We have accumulated a lot of problems".

Paradoxically, customer interest does not wane, with double-digit order intake growth since January. The new hybrid and LPG powertrains of the Duster and Bigster are "selling like hotcakes", according to the brand’s management. This significant gap between actual showroom sales and official registrations is explained solely by delivery times, which currently range between two and four months.

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Management expects a rapid recovery of the situation as early as spring. Olivier Mornet states that Dacia will "absorb its delay in the second quarter" thanks to the resumption of a normal delivery pace observed as early as March. The manufacturer, which holds the fourth place in the French market, is now betting on a volume boom as early as April to erase this unusual quarterly deficit.