FRENCH FAMILY PLANNING
DACIA TEAMS UP WITH LADA, SHOWS OFF BIGSTER CONCEPT
Meet the Dacia Bigster. As in,
A production version is due for 2024, with hybrid power, to sit above the wildly successful Duster.
Like any Dacia, it shuns frippery. Design director Alejandro MesoneroRomanos says it’s “essential, with a touch of cool and an outdoor spirit. It proves that accessible is not opposed to attractiveness.”
Dacia is the Renault Group’s quiet success. No industry rival has managed to replicate its formula of straightforward cars that people want, at pared-to-thebone prices, and still make money.
For that reason the Bigster will use a stretched version of the Duster’s platform. And because Renault also owns Lada, huge sales will be added in Russia by redoing it as a new Niva.
NEW MOBILIZE APP IS ANOTHER CRACK AT CAR SHARING
The Group is also starting a brand for electric car sharing, called Mobilize. It’s not a standing start – pre-pandemic Renault already had viable car-sharing schemes with Zoes in a few big cities.
A new concept, the EZ-1 shows its plan for a two-seat city scootabout, which you’ll book by app. There will also be a little four-seater based on the Dacia Spring, a hatch for longer trips, and an urban van.
Critically, because the earning potential of these vehicles depends on every mile they’re used, they will have to be designed to be super robust.
Mobilize will also embrace clean energy and the ‘circular economy’. Renault is already converting a car plant into one that recycles parts and EV batteries, and upcycles old cars for re-use.
Mobilize will co-operate with data and AI companies to enable all this.
But you can sense a rowing back on the possibility of self-driving.