We first talked to Broad about how the Romanian brand has evolved over time.
He said: “Things move on, and if we don’t move on with the times we don’t keep up or grow.
“That’s why we’ve added more equipment on to the Duster – it’s there because customers are asking for it. They want bigger, higher quality screens, so for new Duster we’ve put a 10in screen in there. What we don’t do is put a huge 50in flat screen on the dashboard – because it’s not the Dacia way of doing things.”
The recently announced Bigster is going to be particularly interesting to fleet, so we asked if, along with the rest of the range, Broad feels that the brand has moved forward enough to be able to do more fleet business?
He said: “With Duster, it’s our second model with the hybrid powertrain, and even with that car, I really see some potential in the fleet environment.
“However, as you touched on, Bigster will be the fleet car for Dacia. It is in the C-segment, it is an SUV, it’s huge, it has got a 155hp hybrid drivetrain, and that’s what we believe fleets are crying out for.
“So, the short answer to your question is yes, Bigster will be an important car for us in fleet. Will we discount hugely in fleet channels to do volumes? I will say we will stay true to our ethos, which is offering the best value for money. If that means that a car in a particular channel needs to be x hundred pounds per month, so that it is well placed – then we will do that.”
We then moved on to ask Broad if he thought hybrid versions of the Duster would open that car up to a new fleet customer that perhaps wouldn’t have considered a Dacia before?
He said: “I think so, on the basis that it’s an SUV. It is not quite as big as Bigster, and it’s in the B+ SUV sector. I think 100%, we’re going to do some business in fleet with all-new Duster.
“Touching on your point about hybrid being interesting to fleet, I think you’re right and we’re seeing that in the data. For Jogger, 70% of our sales are hybrid, and based on around 1,000 orders that we’ve already taken, the new Duster is already at 65% hybrid – I don’t see that going down over time. There is not enough data to see particular channels, but I’m expecting fleet will be 80% plus for the hybrid powertrain.
“I really see Dacia as the brand for fleets who aren’t quite ready to go electric – they want to try an electrified powertrain – but they haven’t got £50,000 to spend on one. They want all the features, all the benefit of a hybrid powertrain – but without all the cost.”
