"We do not compromise on the safety of car passengers and pedestrians, but we carefully choose the assistance systems," explained Gilles Le Borgne, executive vice president of engineering Renault Group, according to Economica.net.

Romanian carmaker Dacia's two new models, Sandero Stepway and Logan, received in April only two (of five) NCAP stars, despite rather good protection provided to passengers (four out of five stars ) and average protection provided to pedestrians and cyclists.

Several Renault officials, including Denis le Vot - CEO Dacia and Lada, Gilles Le Borgne - executive vice president of engineering Renault Group, and Laurens van den Acker - executive vice president of design Renault Group, were in Bucharest last week to wrap up the details of the next generation of the brand's SUV model Duster.

In a discussion held on this occasion with a group of Romanian journalists, they also explained how the safety level of Dacia cars - one of the main points of criticism expressed by local buyers still reluctant to "buy Romanian" - is designed to respect the idea of "essential" equipment.

As it is already known, the word that currently defines the Dacia models is no longer "low-cost" but "essential," they explained. This brand new concept floated by le Vot explains not only the frugal safety features of Dacia models but also the prices that have increased significantly compared to the previous models.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dacia)