Subject: Dacia Logan
Content: The Logan is a low cost car produced jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its affiliate Dacia of Romania. It is manufactured at Dacia's automobile plant in Mioveni, Romania. Whether the car is marketed as Dacia or Renault in a country depends on the existing presence of the Renault brand in it.
//
History
The Logan was the end result of Project X90, announced by Renault in 1999 after the buyout of Dacia in 1998. During a visit to Russia by French President Jacques Chirac, Louis Schweitzer noted that at Lada
and Renault dealerships the 6000€ Ladas were selling very well, while
the 12,000€ Renaults stayed in the showroom. "Seeing those antiquated
cars, I found it unacceptable that technical progress should stop you
making a good car for 6,000€." (He later revised this target to
5,000€). "I also drew up a list of specifications in three words –
modern, reliable and affordable – and added that everything else was
negotiable." However, the cheapest version of the car is priced at
almost 6,000€, and can reach 8,500€, depending on equipment and customs
duty (the base model for Western Europe,
where it is badged as a Dacia but generally sold in Renault
dealerships, is somewhat more expensive). As it was designed from the
outset as an affordable car, the Logan has many simplified features to
keep costs low.
The car replaces many older cars in production, including the Romanian Dacia 1300 series of Renault 12-based cars[citation needed].
It was officially launched in 2004. Renault originally had no plans
to sell Logan in Western Europe, but began importing a more expensive
version of the car in June 2005,
starting at around €7000. It became an unexpected success with people
wanting an inexpensive, no frills car they could repair themselves.
They currently have no plans on introducing it on more markets since
demand is far greater than supply.[1]
Features
The Logan is based on the B platform that is used by the third generation Renault Clio, Renault Modus and the latest version of the Nissan Micra. It has 50% fewer parts than a high-end Renault vehicle and has a limited number of electronic
devices. In addition to making the car less costly to produce, this
also makes it easier and cheaper to repair. As with many low-cost
vehicles, a large amount of soundproofing was omitted, meaning that
road vibrations, engine sound and wind noise are noticeable for the
passengers.
Some parts are also much simpler than those of its competitors. For example, rear-view mirrors are symmetrical and can be used on either sides of the car, the windshield is flatter than usual, and the dashboard is a single injection-molded piece.
The developers have taken into account several differences between
road and climate conditions in developed and developing countries. The
Logan suspension is soft and strong, and the chassis sits visibly
higher than most other superminis to help it negotiate dirt roads and
potholes on ill-maintaned asphalt roads. The engine is specially
prepared to handle lower quality fuel, whereas the air conditioning is
powerful enough to lower temperature several degrees (above 40ºC are
common in the Middle East and Mediterranean Sea).
Safety
In June 2005 the car achieved a 3 star rating at the EuroNCAP
crash tests, lower than most other cars of its age. This result
confirms initial expectations stated earlier by Renault. The car was
equipped with dual frontal airbags, which are optional in many markets.
The Logan does not have seatbelt pretensioners.
In July 2005, a "Fahrdynamik-Test" (similar to an elk-test, but not identical) conducted by the German ADAC claimed that the lack of an Electronic Stability Program by Dacia Logan makes it roll over while suddenly turning at 65 km/h . More pictures here . Later that month, the Romanian version of Top Gear
repeated the "elk-test" and, according to the results published on
their website, the Logan passed the test at speeds of 72 km/h, 84 km/h
and 87 km/h. Article in Romanian [1] .
However, it should be noted that the test performed by Top Gear was a
standard elk-test, while the "Fahrdynamik-Test" performed the by the
ADAC was quite different. Top Gear falsely claimed that the test was
identical to the one performed by the ADAC.
Later, on September 9, ADAC published the results of further incident investigation ,
showing that the rollover was actually caused by faulty tires and not
by improper car design. It was later admitted by the German testers
that the car failed after an unusually high number of elk tests that
had worn down the tires of the test car.
Engines
Name
Capacity
(cc)
Type
Power
Torque
Top speed
(km/h)
Consumption
(liters/100 km)
1.4 MPI
1390
8 valves SOHC
55 kW (75 PS) @5500 rpm
112 Nm @3000rpm
162
6,9
1.6 MPI
1598
8 valves SOHC
64 kW (87 PS) @5500 rpm
128 Nm @3000rpm
175
7,3
1.6 16v
1598
16 valves DOHC
77 kW (105 PS) @5750 rpm
148 Nm @3750rpm
183
7,1
1.5 dCi
1461
8 valves
50 kW (68 PS) @4000rpm
160 Nm @1700rpm
158
4,7
Marketing and production
In markets where Renault has an existing presence, such as European, African and Asian countries (I.E. Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria and many others) it is sold as the Dacia Logan.[2] Exceptions are Russia, China, Colombia, Africa, Brazil and Venezuela where it is marketed as the Renault Logan. The Logan is vital to increasing sales of the Renault group to the 4 million mark by 2010. In India, the car's first right hand drive
market, the Logan will be marketed under the "Mahindra" brand name;
Renault will partner with Indian utility and commercial vehicles
manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra Limited. In Mexico, the Logan will be badged as a Nissan, since neither Renault nor Dacia are present on the Mexican market.
The car is for sale in developing countries where the population has a lower purchasing power than in developed countries. In 2007, Iran also began selling Logan models by Renault-Pars Co. manufactured in Pars Khodro and Iran Khodro [2] .
After a mere month of production, more than 100 000 Renault Tondar-90,
as it's called there, have been ordered, even though deliveries will
start only in May 2007 [3] .
Dacia have plans to produce CKD versions for assembly in various target markets.
2004
2005
2006
Car production (units)
28,592
150,433
196,708
Since the beginning of production in 2004 and up to the end of 2006, a total of 321,284 Dacia Logans were sold. [4] .
Dacia sales for 2006 were over €1.5 billion, 19.6% up in comparison
with 2005. Annual production have almost reached 200,000 cars, half for
exports.
Production began with a 4-door sedan, followed by a wagon in September 2006. Four other models, including a pickup truck and hatchback are to follow, starting in 2007 with a light commercial model.
The factory is unusual for a volume manufacturer in that it uses no
robots. The low wages in Romania mean that the car would actually
become more expensive if they were to switch to using robots. The
factory employs 12,532 workers at an average salary of €360 a month. [5] .
Models
Logan MCV
The Logan MCV (Multi Convivial Vehicle), launched at the 2006 Paris Motor Show, is the station wagon version of the Logan [6] .
It has five or seven seat versions, with a luggage space that varies
between 200 and 2350 litres depending on how many seats are folded, as
well as numerous storage spaces for smaller objects.
It uses the same engines as the sedan version [7] . An important improvement is the availability of side airbags. Sales began in October 2006 on the Romanian market with prices ranging between €8200 and €11600. [8] , and will extend to other countries in early 2007.
Logan VAN
The minivan version of the Logan was launched on January 23 2007 in Bucharest [9] . It is a small business
orientated vehicle, with 2500 litre loading space and 800 kg payload.
The Logan VAN has the same safety features and uses the same engines as
the other models (except the 1.6 16v engine). Sales have started in
Romania, with prices ranging between €6700 and €8800.
Concept cars and projects
Logan MCV
In 2006, a station wagon concept car, the Dacia Logan Steppe was presented at the Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva. The car was built by noted concept car builders DC Design in India as a forerunner of the Logan MCV.
Logan S2000
The S2000 was a short lived project for a racing version of the Logan [10] , [11] .
VIEW FULL VERSION: Link