► New 2025 Dacia hatchback scooped
► Bigger than Sandero, below Duster
► It’s Dacia’s new C-segment hatch
Dacia is executing a double-pronged attack on the C-sector, industry shorthand for the biggest car market in Europe in which cars like the VW Golf and Vauxhall Astra compete. In addition to launching the Bigster SUV, Dacia will also launch an as-yet-unnamed hatchback.
It’s proof that SUVs haven’t quite written off the good old-fashioned family hatch and it’s bang on-trend with Dacia’s no-nonsense, common-sense vibe and attractive value proposition.
Our exclusive artist’s impression by Andrei Avarvari reveals our depiction of the Dacia hatchback, expected to launch in 2025. It combines Sandero DNA with the latest look of the brand’s rough-n-tumble SUVs, as espoused by the latest Duster and Bigster, but in a more compact footprint.
Why Dacia is going back to basics with a straightforward hatch
For reference, C-segment refers to mid-sized family cars. A C-segment hatchback, for example, is a Volkswagen Golf or a Vauxhall Astra, while a C-segment SUV is like a Nissan Qashqai, Audi Q3 or Dacia’s own Bigster due later in 2024.
As the brand gains confidence and attracts new customers from new markets and new audiences, Dacia is hoping to keep the momentum up with new models in new body styles. ‘We are working on two different bodies, additional [to the current range],’ Le Vot tells CAR magazine. ‘The very same platform, the very same factory, the very same everything in order to remain competitive.’
But will they be SUVs? ‘No, we’re going to be more innovative than that,’ adds Le Vot (below). ‘We already have two SUVs with the Duster and [forthcoming] Bigster, so now let’s see what are the projected needs of transportation… family movers… whatever you want, in the future.’
That means the two new cars will run on CMF-B – the same architecture as pretty much everything else Dacia currently sells aside from the Spring EV.
Given Dacia’s values of providing functional mobility for as many people as possible, we could see something like a traditional C-segment hatchback to compete against the likes of the Astra, a coupe-like crossover to tackle Peugeot’s ‘fastback’ 408 or a longer saloon to sit above the third-generation Logan that’s been on sale in some markets since 2020.
Le Vot recognises there is space for Dacia to grow in this segment on top of offering the Bigster. ‘We’re going into the biggest swimming pool in Europe, which is the C-Crossover segment – that’s 2.5m cars,’ says Le Vot. ‘We just want a little chunk of these people to consider the possibility of buying this. And the biggest C-segments in Europe are Germany and the UK – these people are really important for our presence.’