Renault’s Dacia will stick to thermal engines as long as it can, CEO says

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PARIS (Reuters) – Dacia, the low-cost brand of French carmaker Renault (EPA:RENA), plans to stick to thermal engines for as long as it can and help drivers reluctant to switch to electric engines, chief executive officer Denis Le Vot said in an interview with Reuters.

While Renault plans to go fully electric in 2030, Dacia will retain the possibility of making the big jump only by 2035, when fossil fuel engines are banned in Europe.

“Renault will push to be the champion of electric engines, this has a risk,” Le Vot said on the sideline of a presentation in Le Bourget near Paris.

“This is also why Dacia exists. Depending on how fast the market converts to electric engines and of clients’ appetite, Dacia is here. The two can co-exist in an intimate fashion,” he said.

Dacia has only one electric model, Dacia Spring, which accounts for 12% of its order intakes.

While it continues to bank on small engines powered by fossil fuel and liquefied petroleum gas, which make a third of the sales of the brand, Dacia plans to offer a first hybrid model in 2023.

Renault, which was a pioneer along with alliance partner Nissan (OTC:NSANY) in the electric car engines sector a decade ago, has recently been dethroned by newcomers such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

In a bid to rebound, Renault will unveil later this autumn its plan to create separate divisions for electric and combustion engine vehicles.