Dacia will continue to sell the Spring alongside its upcoming Renault Twingo-based EV, making it the only firm to offer a choice of two electric city cars at once.
The company’s new entry EV is due to be revealed in the coming months ahead of a public debut at the Paris motor show in September. It will go on sale by the end of the year at less than €18,000 (£15,000).
Heavily based on the Twingo but with its own bespoke styling and a lower price point – mirroring the relationship between the Clio and Sandero – the new model is pitched as the successor to the Spring, but now bosses have confirmed that both cars will be offered simultaneously.
Dacia product boss Patrice Lévy-Bencheton explained that the two cars can co-exist because while they are both A-segment EVs, “they are still quite different – you will see when we reveal the car: size, shape, etc”.
The newer car will be slightly larger, matching the Twingo at around 3.8m long and 1.7m wide, and previews show that it will be a radical departure in terms of styling, taking heavy influence from Dacia’s chunky, 4×4-inspired SUVs.
It will also be slightly more expensive, with the targeted £15,000 start price representing a £3000 premium over the cheapest version of the current Spring – but nonetheless the two models will occupy the same segment and have a similar remit.
Lévy-Bencheton suggested the two models will co-exist for around a year, with the Spring being phased out in different markets “depending on the situation” with regard to local incentives and demand.
“The two offers make sense and will stay on the market, and this is then the job of the sales team to position them,” he said.
Frank Marotte, Dacia’s sales and marketing boss, added that the two cars will be offered “at different prices with different designs – and we’ll figure out what the customer will buy”.
The Spring is derived from the Renault City K-ZE that has been on sale in various global markets since 2019 and is imported to Europe from a factory in China with only light adaptation for European customers – whereas Dacia’s new entry EV has been designed in Europe specifically for the local market.
It will also be built in Europe (likely alongside the Twingo in Slovakia), meaning that it avoids the heavy import penalties imposed on Chinese EVs – including the Spring – by the EU, boosting profitability.
