this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
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244
Dacia Sandero overtakes Tesla Model Y for title of best-selling car in Europe in 2024 (www.romania-insider.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Blaze@feddit.nl to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
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[โ€“] 5trong5tyle@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dacia is kind of taking over for VW in being the affordable everyman car. I've been driving a Duster for 5 years and one of my reasons for driving Dacia is that they're affordable on purchase, affordable on parts and not fully computerised as the EVs are. They also get pretty decent mileage and aren't crazy expensive to fill up.

I would love to drive something more environmentally friendly, but in reality EVs aren't where I need them to be. I can't charge them at home due to not having a driveway or a set parking spot, they take too long to charge when on the go and I'm pretty afraid for what will happen to electricity networks and prices if everyone starts driving one.

I'm also not fond of the lack of simple tactile controls. Screens distract you from watching the road. Buttons you can push without looking at them. I really feel that EVs are a rich man's solution to a problem that needs a more broad approach. The upfront cost of EVs, the replacement of batteries and the need for dedicated space to charge at home just aren't viable for even me, someone on a median income. Imagine how tough they are on the single mom in a flat that's still driving a 2004 Suzuki Swift.

And for those thinking public transport is an option: come live in Dublin, the biggest city in Ireland and tell me again. Public transport is atrocious here.

[โ€“] Cyber@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

And for those thinking public transport is an option

Or any rural location... 1 bus a day... most days. AND no charging points for an EV.

[โ€“] Blackmist@feddit.uk 6 points 1 day ago

Oh no!

Anyway...

[โ€“] qevlarr@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dacia gang ๐Ÿคœ๐Ÿค›

Driving a Logan MCV because I have so much room and still pretty cheap and light. Love the car. I'm a bit disappointed with their EV offering. No fast charging, small action radius, those are deal breakers for EV buyers. Other than that, I'm absolutely a fan of the "no frills, just the car" concept. Only luxury I miss iscruise control

[โ€“] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 day ago

Rented a previous gen duster in iceland I was pleasantly surprised. Capable, comfortable, has every luxury thing that makes a difference, great audio system, good driving, handles well for an suv, better awd than what audi puts in most of their passats. Only thing I hated was the diesel engine but that's my fault for getting a diesel.

[โ€“] ThunderComplex@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

The Dacia Sandero was my first new car (previous cars were all used but all in all I had a lot of misfortune with them).

Itโ€™s a fantastic car, spacious on the inside without being unnecessarily big on the outside. Suspension is a little stiff for my liking but overall it absolutely deserves all the praise.

[โ€“] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

While I'm happy Tesla's are on the decline in Europe, this is not a good replacement. A non-EV SUV - very much not cause for celebration.

[โ€“] superkret@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The Dacia Sandero isn't an SUV by any reasonable definition.
It's a cheap hatchback.

[โ€“] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

Right you are - I mixed it up with Dacia Duster.

Slightly less dystopian, then.

[โ€“] pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz 6 points 1 day ago

In Germany it's the VW ID3, very good replacement for Tesla Y

[โ€“] resipsaloquitur@lemm.ee 68 points 3 days ago (2 children)

GOOD NEWS!

[โ€“] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm obviously not a fan of Tesla but it's a shame that the most sold car went from an electric to a gas powered one.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It went to a car that costs a quarter of the Tesla. Can you really blame people for not being rich?

[โ€“] superkret@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The Dacia Spring Electric costs 16900โ‚ฌ new.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And you need to own a single-family home or at least live in a small enough apartment building to be able to convince people to install chargers at parking spots. If you do own house, you can probably afford a nicer car.

It pretty much has no engine or battery to speak of so if you need to use it outside of the city (you know, the place where you could just use public transit or walk), it'll just... Suck. If you need to charge it at public chargers, it's more expensive to run than a diesel in some countries, while not being as convenient.

I'm glad the option exists, but I don't see poor people rushing to electric unless the infrastructure and public charger pricing greatly improve, and I don't see a lot of wealthy people buying this Dacia either.

That's probably why the cheap ICE powered Dacia is so successful. It's more successful at targeting the people who can't afford a big expensive EV. Because those people often also can't afford the limitations and practical requirements of a cheap EV.

[โ€“] gabbath@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

(Disclaimer: not a car person, asking for clarification...)

Does what you said not apply to Tesla as well?

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Tesla had an early popularity advantage. It was the first EV that actually made use of the performance advantages of an electric motor. Until some point you could get a crappy Leaf or an upmarket Tesla with little in-between.

You also need a lot more money to buy a Tesla, you can't really generally get a 12 year old used one for the price of a new Dacia. So the market for Tesla was always people who probably have houses or don't REALLY care about the charging prices at public stations.

[โ€“] gabbath@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation. I was also curious whether the existing EV infrastructure for Tesla is usable by other models, because I think this would be a crucial factor for mass adoption.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

I believe Tesla started opening up their chargers to other brands a few years ago as they can't stop people from buying other EVs, but they CAN make more money off their extensive charger network.

I don't know if that also applies for the EU, I know it was being discussed in the US.

[โ€“] casmael@lemm.ee 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

good news everyone!

[โ€“] jabjoe@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not for the planet. It burns dino juice. That also means 5-10 times the running cost.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A quarter the purchase cost though.

The Tesla would need an out of warranty battery replacement long before it pays off compared to the Dacia.

[โ€“] jabjoe@feddit.uk 1 points 1 day ago

Telsa is the top end of the market, so these two are not like for like. There are now EV reaching price parity, or cheaper. The cost is mostly battery and the price of battery is come down a lot since EV started going mass market.

When buying an EV, you should do it on maths. If it will cost extra every month, compare that will fuel savings. For me it was ยฃ16 a day on diesel for my long commute in the large family van. Now it's <ยฃ2 a day in the large family EV van. So it's a big saving.

[โ€“] Nougat@fedia.io 36 points 3 days ago

A broad smile sweeps across the face of James May.

[โ€“] Letstakealook@lemm.ee 26 points 3 days ago

I can't imagine fumbling this hard. All that man had to do was shut the fuck up and enjoy his billions.

[โ€“] TimeWalker@lemmy.foxden.party 20 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Umm, maybe I'm looking at the wrong place but isn't the Dacia Sandero Petrol only? I'm also against buying Tesla but it's still backwards to me that the best selling car is now a petrol car and not an electric car

[โ€“] fluffy@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Electric cars cost a lot of money that a lot of people do not have. The Sandero is one of the cheapest cars available.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The Dacia Sandero is affordable and practical. EVs are only now starting to get to the point where they can be both. That small BYD thing is pretty cheap apparently. I've also seen some GWM Ora's around. The EV revolution in Europe is going to be Chinese.

[โ€“] jabjoe@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If EU car makers doesn't get good at making affordable EVs, they will get wiped out. You'd be mad to buy an ICE car over EV at the same price. Dino juice costs so much more (x5-x10) to run (if you can charge at home).

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

A lot of people with PHEVs don't use the hybrid part much because of how expensive electricity has gotten nowadays.

A lot of people also live in apartments and have no idea ability to install a charger.

EU car makers aren't a monolithic entity that offer a total of 4 models and a trashcan either. Mercedes alone has at least 6 EV models I can think of. Volkswagen has over 10 under all their brands I think. Volvo made a really basic car with really quick acceleration a la Tesla and now has the EX90.

Tesla had the popularity advantage from being the first to create an EV with a real battery and motor, it was the only reason they could beat an affordable car like the Sandero with their expensive smart refrigerators on wheels. Now there's competition.

[โ€“] jabjoe@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you can't charge at home with the cheap EV electricity tariff, not sure I'd suggest an EV yet. I get 7p per kWh and 3 miles per kWh. So that's 2.33p per mile. For petrol to match that, at say, ยฃ1.50 a litre, you need a MGP of about 300. If you kWh is 70p though, you might as well use ICE for now. Unless you want an EV for planet or local polution reasons.

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My kWh is about 15 cent (euro cents), but public chargers are a lot more than that. I can get petrol or diesel at around 1.10 through clever scheming (hey I'm not the one doing the tax evasion, I just benefit from it). I could install a charger at the family home, but that's 100 km from the city I live in. In the city it's 32 or 45 cent per kWh depending on which public charger you use.

If public chargers were 20 cents per kWh for fast charging, it would be an entirely different value proposition. Right now it's just a bit more expensive than diesel.

[โ€“] jabjoe@feddit.uk 1 points 1 day ago

No point installing a charger unless it's were you live. If you have to use public chargers only, an EV probably doesn't work out cheaper. At least here in the UK. The public chargers seamed to have the cost set to match fossil fuel. About 70-80p per kWh. Telsa chargers are less, but who wants to give that man any money are all?

[โ€“] Akasazh@feddit.nl 2 points 2 days ago

It has a lpg/petrol bifuel option

[โ€“] ceenote@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago

Cool! Anyway...

[โ€“] adbenitez@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago

This sucks, at least Tesla was electric, fuck cars...

[โ€“] SnowChickenFlake@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You mean to tell me that Tesla was the best selling car in Europe in 2023? I kinda fail to believe it..

[โ€“] xwolpertinger@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

I kinda fail to believe it..

Why? Tesla had exactly two models that actually sold well, 3 and Y and for large stretches of time they were good value. And, more importantly, actually available. Everything else they do is basically a rounding error.

It's a bit like the Apple effect, if you only sell 1-2 phones of course they are going to be the "best selling models"

[โ€“] MBech@feddit.dk 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There's a LOT of different cars to compete with. And it seems to have been true.

[โ€“] Geometrinen_Gepardi@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 days ago

That's a surprising top 2. There's about 30000โ‚ฌ price difference between the Tesla and the Dacia.

[โ€“] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

Looking forward to buy one, actually, if I can get some money between selling my old car and the gov subsidies. It's hard because I don't belive on buying cars on credit tho.

[โ€“] eutampieri@feddit.it 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I donโ€™t remember if itโ€™s the Sandero, but hasnโ€™t Dacia got a model that sells under 20โ€™000 โ‚ฌ? I would definitely consider it just for the price

[โ€“] superkret@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dacia even has an EV that starts at 17000โ‚ฌ

[โ€“] eutampieri@feddit.it 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I meant EV model

[โ€“] boonhet@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

The Sandero starts at under 15k in my country.

[โ€“] DmMacniel@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago

That's nice but still... fuckcars