Rédaction Africa Links 24 with lexpress
Published on 2024-02-24 02:35:00
The Dacia Duster was “scandalously low-cost” at its launch. And the advertising of that time did not hesitate to remind us of that. If Renault had the idea of “low cost”, it shamefully entrusted it to a lesser brand of the group, Dacia. Rustic robustness, minimalist efficiency, a commitment to the essentials: words that were not yet known as philosophy, but seemed to authentically match the third world that Romania still was, where the Mioveni factory was located. The realization of this mantra was entrusted to the engineer Gérard Detourbet (1946-2019) who would become the “father” of the Dacia Logan (2004), Sandero (2007) and Duster (2009), but would not realize his project of the Kwid 4×4. His concept of “Design to cost,” a reverse approach with a predefined maximum selling price, should serve as a model of modesty for all administrations of poor countries.
Dacia, more than a car, is a state of mind. A transfigured brand whose marketing rubs shoulders with the advertising of an icon: but, if Citroën’s 2CV (“more than a car, a way of life”) remained what it was (the specifications specified the transport of two peasants in clogs, with 50 kg of potatoes and a basket of eggs), may Dacia not succumb to automotive gentrification. The first of SUVs sold in Europe, and having crossed the two million units sold mark (in 2022), becoming respectable, the Duster is badged as Renault in a country like Madagascar. But, it is truly a Dacia way of life that those who launched the “Dacia Owners Club” concept claim, an automotive community whose first major gathering took place in 2005 in the Netherlands. In Madagascar, to ride the Duster wave, it is the dealer “Madauto” itself that created the group “Duster Club Mada” in April 2020.
It was at the Geneva Motor Show in 2009 that the H79 concept was unveiled, with a design vaguely related in the end (except for the frowning grille) to what would become the production model Dacia Duster, launched in April 2010. This virile minimalism has since been the DNA of this model. The catalogue recites “adventurous look, 4×4 performance, family car”: but not just the look. Without necessarily venturing into the quagmires of an off-road course, which delights off-road enthusiasts, soon for a simple leisure trip to Sahambavy, the first gear of 5.79 km/h (at the pace of a human) at 1000 RPM will be a minimum requirement. The same advertisement mentions the journey “from Siberian cold to Moroccan desert.” Marketing services could film a demo in the Malagasy mud.
In Europe, which is sabotaging its diesel industry while the future of the electric engine still raises questions, the tightening of the ecological tax has led to the disappearance of the 4×4 offer even in petrol (Tce 130 and Tce 150). But if a wave of SUV-phobia rages in the perfectly smooth highways of Europe, the state of Malagasy roads will still favor four-wheel drive vehicles combined with substantial ground clearance for a long time. A book tells the story of another Dacia (“The Logan Saga,” by Bernard Julien, Yannick Lung, Christophe Midler, published by Dunod, 2012) by outlining the six commandments of the Logan spirit: “1. design simple, 2. contain expenses to the strict necessary by reusing the maximum of amortized components, 3. adapt the rules of the trade to local requirements, 4. be pragmatic and opportunistic, 5. be reactive in order to exploit market openings, 6. think globally and not exclusively Europe.” A true Bible of good governance for the use of countries mired in underdevelopment.
Dacia takes its name from Dacia, an ancient province that became present-day Romania. The Dacia car company was created during Ceaucescu’s dictatorship: the Dacia 2000, a Renault 20 under license, reserved for the apparatchiks of the communist regime, was the flagship of the range. While the Dacia 1300, our good old Renault 12, made its way to Madagascar during the era of socialist camaraderie. It is worth noting that the Peugeot 204, 404, 304, and 504 were assembled in Madagascar, on General Roques Street, currently Jean Jaurès in Ambatomena. The ECAM company produced Citroën vehicles (Dyane 6, Ami 8, 3CV AK, Méhari) from its assembly lines. Inaugurated on November 8, 1962, the SOMACOA factory (Malagasy Automobile Construction Company) produced the Renault 4.
The Peugeot 203, 404, and 504 (all majestically black before being succeeded by the less austere Peugeot 405) were successively the vehicles of the Malagasy administration (civil and military). Why shouldn’t ministers and deputies modestly drive a Duster? A versatile car, suitable for urban connections between Antaninarenina-Anosy-Tsimbazaza-Mahazoarivo-Iavoloha and suitable for trips outside parliamentary sessions. Cheaper in tender offers, less fuel-consuming, easier to tinker with without public accounting acrobatics. So much less ostentatious in the Malagasy landscape, especially rural (to think that with a Renault 16, one could reach Fort-Dauphin before 1975). As an official vehicle, in a very administrative black, such a finish exists in the Duster range: on June 30, 2019, during the Grand Dacia Picnic in France, 500 units of the Dacia Duster Black Collector were offered for sale. “Low cost,” rebranded “Entry,” now coded as “Global Access,” becomes stylish and exclusive.
Read the original article(French) on lexpress.mg
