Dacia will continue to sell the Spring alongside its upcoming Renault Twingo-based EV, making it the only firm to offer two affordable, electric city cars at once.

Dacia product boss Patrice Lévy-Bencheton, speaking to the English car magazine Autocar, explained that the two cars can coexist even though they are both A-segment EVs. “They are still quite different – you will see when we reveal the second car: size, shape, etc., all are different”.

Lévy-Bencheton suggested that the two models will co-exist for around a year, with the Spring being phased out in different markets “depending on the situation”, taking local incentives and demand into account. “The two offers make sense and will stay on the market, and it is 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”.

Lately, Spring has had a serious update, and Marotte admits that “it might look a bit strange, so late in the life cycle, to keep updating the product, but it is important to keep the car fresh to protect its position in the market and commercial appeal.”

“We have upgraded the Spring because, in the BEV world, if you want to sustain your residual values, you need to upgrade your product, whichever it is, Marotte added. “We strongly believe that that’s a need; otherwise, you can clearly see, from some competitors, that your residual values will decrease because your technology is not updated anymore.”

Twingo brother

The newcomer, due to be presented in the second half of the year, is heavily based on the Twingo but has its own bespoke styling. 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 4×4-inspired SUVs.

Normally, it will be slightly more expensive, but nonetheless, the two models will occupy the same segment and have a similar remit. It will also be built in Europe (likely alongside the Twingo in Slovenia), avoiding the import penalties imposed by the EU on Chinese EVs, including the Spring, thereby boosting profitability and narrowing the price gap between the two models.

Duster launched in India as a Renault

Duster is Dacia’s second-most popular model, after the Sandero. Last year, it sold almost 194,000 units of the model, making it the most popular SUV among individual buyers in Europe. The car is also for sale in Turkey and Australia, but there it’s marketed as the Renault Duster.

For other markets outside Europe, a new Renault Duster is coming, launched first in India. Later on, it has to find its way into the Middle East and South America.

Where the Duster in Turkey and Australia is a genuine Dacia Duster with other logos, the car has been visually revised for launch in other parts of the world, in line with Renault’s new policy not to simply launch rebadged Dacia models anymore. Another example of this policy is the recent Renault Kardian, sold in South America, which is based on the Dacia Sandero Stepway but has its own design elements.

Front and rear have been redesigned, and the Duster name is everywhere. The bumpers are different, too, and there’s an LED strip between the tailgate lights. Inside, the dashboard has been remanaged, with a single large info panel containing two screens of more than 10 inches (in the more luxurious versions). This Renault Duster can also be had with a large, panoramic glass roof that opens, an option that can’t (yet?) be had on the Dacia Duster.