The prospect of depreciation scares many from buying a new vehicle, yet Dacia says that in the UK, their Sandero is not only the cheapest new ride available, but also the kingdom’s “least depreciating car,” according to industry forecasters.
As always, take such bold claims with three quarters of a grain of salt, because while the reasoning behind it all does make sense, reality may come to contradict what has been written here in a few months’/years’ time, after the Sandero has had time to grow on the often picky buyers from the Isles.
A recent release, from Dacia, says that the base Sandero Access, the one finished in white which doesn’t cover the bumpers, mirrors or door handles and has no options whatsoever, is expected to lose only £3,615 over the first three years or sixty thousand miles. Furthermore, in the case of the top-spec Laureate trim, they argue that buyers will save up to £4,000 over running a Skoda Fabia or Suzuki Swift over the same period/number of miles – by that they mean it loses closer to £5,000 (rough estimate).
If percentages make things even clearer for you, then here they are: in top Laureate trim, the car is forecast to hold 36 percent of its original value (8 percent up on the Swift and 6 percent up on the Fabia). The press release contains some even more optimistic numbers, from another group of forecasters, which show it retaining 57 percent of its value, but we’d rather just wait for time to do its thing and not scratch our heads too much for this matter.
Keep in mind that the Dacia brand is pulling its own weight, which as you are reading is not the case for parent company Renault. In the first six months of the year, the Romanian brand recorded 16.5 percent better sales than last year, thanks to new models, and currently accounts for 16.8 percent of all cars sold under the rhombus badge.
Also, along with the photos, there’s a video review posted below, courtesy of Carbuyer.
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO