Does Dacia plan to launch a competitor to the Citroën Ami soon?

Dacia is currently studying the feasibility of a small electric city car, similar to the Citroën Ami, with the aim of entering the booming shared urban mobility market.

Historically focused on the B segment, Dacia is gradually expanding its range, both upwards, with models like the upcoming Bigster , and downwards, with the already established success of the Spring. However, the Romanian brand plans to go even smaller, as David Durand, its design director, hinted during an interview with Autocar, when expressing interest in the approach Citroën has taken with the Ami . He concluded by mysteriously stating, "We are exploring all possibilities."

Dacia clearly expresses its desire to focus on the essentials, which positions the brand as a privileged choice to enter this category. Citroën's proposal could have been launched under the DC logo, positioning itself as one of the cheapest and lightest electric cars in Europe, devoid of expensive and bulky equipment such as air conditioning, an infotainment system sophisticated, advanced driving aids, and even power steering.

It therefore seems likely that Dacia will follow a similar path in developing a competitor, and the concept of the Manifesto off-road buggy shown last year gives some hints as to how to achieve this. Among other things, it envisions using the driver's smartphone as an infotainment system, washable trim, easy-to-replace body panels and a single headlamp unit.

Currently, all Dacia models are based on the CMF-B platform, with the exception of the Spring which uses the CMF-AEV architecture. It's unclear whether the latter could be scaled down further, but it's highly likely that Dacia will instead opt for the Duo base from Mobilize, Renault's new car-sharing brand, which is an evolution of the Twizy's bodywork.

David Durand believes that it is essential that European governments do more to promote the purchase of small electric cars. He cites as an example the Japanese model of " kei cars ", which benefits from tax advantages, insurance and parking. According to him, there are not yet regulations encouraging customers to opt for cars smaller than the Spring.