Dacia will not restrict sales of petrol and hybrid models in the UK to comply with the country’s zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, opting instead to increase its electric vehicle offering despite mounting regulatory pressure, the brand’s sales chief said.
The UK mandate requires 33% of sales by major automakers to be battery-electric in 2026, with penalties of £12,000 imposed for each internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sold above the threshold. Dacia, the most combustion-focused brand within Renault Group, faces a sharper transition than many rivals.
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“It doesn’t mean we’re going to limit ICE sales, but we have to increase our EV sales,” Frank Marotte, Dacia’s vice-president for sales and marketing, told Autocar. “At the end of the day, we need to be compliant with the ZEV mandate, because the penalties are too high and we have no intention at Renault Group to pay penalties.”
Dacia expects some support from the launch of a new electric city car based on the Renault Twingo, which will be sold alongside the Dacia Spring. However, Marotte said the brand will need to accelerate the rollout of additional electric models, particularly in the UK, which he described as a bellwether market for regulation likely to spread across Europe.
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The UK ZEV mandate is expected to act as a template for similar schemes elsewhere in the region, increasing the importance of early compliance. At the same time, Dacia faces intensifying competition from new Chinese brands and consolidation among established automakers, which Marotte said had created additional pressure on the brand’s UK performance.
Dacia’s UK market share slipped to 1.49% in 2025 from 1.61% a year earlier, even as its broader European performance improved. Total European sales rose to 697,408 vehicles, lifting the brand’s regional market share by 0.1 percentage points.
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The Dacia Sandero remained the brand’s best-selling model and Europe’s top-selling car overall, with 289,295 units delivered, though volumes fell 6.5% from 2024. Sales of the Dacia Duster declined 9.8% to 193,974 units, while the Jogger MPV fell 23.6% to 73,695 units.
By contrast, the newly launched Dacia Bigster recorded 67,573 sales despite deliveries beginning only in late June, with more than 60% of orders choosing a hybrid powertrain. The Spring EV remained Dacia’s lowest-volume model, but sales rose 53% to 35,034 units, helped by growing demand in the UK following its market launch late in 2024.