Dacia Won't Limit Petrol Sales Despite ZEV Mandate
Romanian brand says it will increase EV sales rather than restrict petrol cars to meet 33% electric target. UK market share fell despite European growth.
Dacia will not limit sales of petrol and hybrid cars to meet the UK's zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate targets, the brand's vice-president for sales and marketing has told Autocar.
The mandate requires 33% of every major car maker's sales to be battery-electric this year, with manufacturers facing a £12,000 fine per ICE car sold over the threshold. Frank Marotte said that because Dacia is the most ICE-focused brand in the Renault Group, there will be a "trade-off between some ICE models that we could sell and the BEVs that we cannot sell".
"It doesn't mean we're going to limit ICE sales, but we have to increase our EV sales," Marotte explained. "At the end of the day, we need to be compliant with the ZEV mandate, because the penalties are too high and we have no intention at Renault Group to pay penalties."
Dacia will be helped by the launch of a new electric city car based on the Renault Twingo, which will be sold alongside the existing Spring EV. Marotte hinted that Dacia could accelerate development of new EVs, saying it needs "more EV offers in our line-up, particularly for the UK short-term".
The Romanian brand's UK performance has struggled, with market share falling from 1.61% in 2024 to 1.49% last year. This contrasts with growth across Europe overall, where Dacia's market share increased by 0.1% with total sales of 697,408 units. The Sandero supermini remained Europe's most popular car with 289,295 sales, though this was down 6.5% on 2024.
