French carmaker Renault expects to sell 5,000 Logan units on the Italian market next year. “This is a sales forecast for next year, not a target, as this figure could be exceeded. The sales of Logan will start next January, through the network of Logan dealers,” said Roberto Romanini, Logan project manager in Italy.
According to Romanini, Renault is in the process of identifying the target customer for this particular model, in order to launch a promotional campaign in January 2006.
“We are relying on the similarities between the Italian and French markets, as the Logan sales in France have exceeded our expectations. The Italian Logan buyers include people between 35 and 50 years old, who are purchasing a car for the first time,” Romanini said, adding that Italy”s Renault dealers are already receiving orders for the Logan. However, he would not reveal the number of orders.
The prices will be similar to those levied in the other Western European countries where the Logan has already been launched. The Ambiance version, with a 1.4l gasoline engine costs 7,950 euros, whereas the Laureate version (1.5l diesel engine) is selling for up to 10,750 euros.
Logan will be sold in a network comprising 76 Renault dealers across Italy, being exhibited in about 120 showrooms.
Post-sale services will be provided by a network of 200 units. The Logan model, made at the Romanian-based branch of Renault, Automobile Dacia Pitesti, was launched on the local market in September 2004. Although initially targeted only at emerging markets, the model was nonetheless distributed in Western Europe as well, in countries such as France, Spain and Germany.
The main production centre is located in Pitesti, with the model being assembled in the Renault plants based in Columbia, Russia and Morocco, entirely controlled by the group or operated jointly with local partners.
As of next year, Logan will also be manufactured in Iran and, starting 2007, in India and Brazil.
Renault estimates the Logan sales to reach 150,000 units in 2005 and to exceed 200,000 units in 2006.
Dacia, Romania”s largest carmaker, estimates turnover to be worth more than one billion euros this year, when it also expects to break even, for the first time since Renault took it over in the autumn of 1999.
alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro