Dacia Sandero Features, Photos and Videos

The Dacia Sandero is a subcompact car produced jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its Romanian subsidiary Dacia since 2007, currently at its second generation. It is also marketed as the Renault Sandero in certain markets, such as Russia, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, and South America. It was introduced in September 2007, and is based on the Logan platform.It is also produced in Iran by Pars Khodro and marketed as Renault Sandero.

With a slightly shorter wheelbase than the sedan from which it derives, the Sandero was developed at Renault's Technocentre near Paris, France, in conjunction with the regional engineering centers based in Brazil and Romania. It was revealed for the first time at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, and made its formal market debut in Brazil, as a Renault model, in December 2007, being the first Renault model to debut outside Europe.

It was launched subsequently in Europe as a Dacia model at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2008.Renault began manufacturing the Sandero in South Africa in February 2009, and in December 2009, in Russia. A Renault version is also manufactured in Colombia for its home market and for export to countries including Chile.

In May 2011, Renault launched in Brazil a facelifted version of Sandero, which enjoys a new face and a revised interior.

In Colombia, the facelifted versions of the Renault Sandero and the Renault Stepway were revealed at the beginning of 2012 with some differences from the other versions sold, such as the location of the doors locks and the passenger's airbag.

On the passive safety front, Sandero has been designed to meet the requirements of European regulations. Depending on equipment level, Dacia Sandero comes with up to four airbags. In terms of active safety Dacia Sandero features the latest generation Bosch 8.1 ABS which incorporates EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and EBA (Emergency Brake Assist).

Euro NCAP rated the Dacia Sandero fitted with the basic level of safety equipment and also crash tested the car equipped with the 'safety pack', which is standard on some variants, and optional on others. The crash test for basic level Dacia Sandero equipped with front seatbelt load limiters, driver frontal airbag and front passenger frontal airbag, scored 3 stars for adults, 4 stars for children occupants and 1 star for pedestrians.

The EuroNCAP test for the 'safety pack' model equipped with side body and head airbags and front seatbelt pretensioners, received a score of 31 for adults, 38 for children occupants and 6 for pedestrians, these results being rated as 4 from 5 stars for adults and children occupants.

Renault do Brasil, which is the Brazilian outfit of French car manufacturer Renault, released in October 2008 the Sandero-based crossover Stepway, ten months after launching the Sandero brand there. The Brazilian Stepway has a 1.6 litre 112 bhp (84 kW; 114 PS) 16 valve engine, the Hi-Flex one with bio-ethanol abilities, and it is marketed in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.

The European version, unveiled on May 7, 2009 at the Barcelona International Motor Show under the Dacia brand, is available in most of the European markets as of September 2009. Dacia Sandero Stepway comes with a 1.6 litre and 90 bhp (67 kW; 91 PS) petrol engine or 1.5 dCi 70 bhp (52 kW; 71 PS) diesel engine.

The second generation Sandero was revealed by Dacia at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. The new Stepway variant was also presented. The hatchback model and the mini crossover version were spotted covered in camouflage during 2012, in the months of June, July, and September, and CGI impressions of the new model were released by car magazines Auto Bild and Za Rulem.

Official photos with the new Sandero were released by Dacia on 17 September 2012, showing an exterior design theme similar to the new Logan and a dashboard inspired from Lodgy.

In Romania, the new Sandero and Sandero Stepway could be ordered from 1 October 2012. It also became available in the United Kingdom, where it joined the Duster in dealerships from 2013, being the most affordable car on the market.

In June 2014, it was launched as the new Renault Sandero in Brazil, where it is also manufactured for the South American markets. Sales in Russia began in September 2014, the Sandero being locally assembled at the AvtoVAZ plant.

The current Sandero model (produced from 2012) is produced in Mioveni, Romania (near Pitesti) for RHD markets such as United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus and South Africa (as Renault Sandero), it is also produced in Algeria by Renault Algeria since beginning of 2016 for the local market (only the Stepway version).

In May 2013, the second generation Dacia Sandero achieved a four star EuroNCAP overall rating for basic level, improving on the previous basic model’s three star score.

The car received a score of 29 pts (80%) for adults, 39 pts (79%) for children occupants, 21 pts (57%) for pedestrians and 5 pts (55%) for safety assist, these results being rated as 5/5 stars for adult and child occupant protections, and 4/5 stars for pedestrian protection and safety assist.

In August 2014, Renault Sport CEO Patrice Ratti revealed to Autocar magazine that a hot hatch RS version of Sandero was in the works, following test cars being spotted in early to mid 2015. Using the 150 PS (148 hp) 2.0 16v F4R engine, and capable of accelerating from 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) in 8.0 seconds, the Sandero RS is the first Renault Sport to be manufactured outside France. It was released in September 2015 in Brazil, different from the normal versions with three types of ECU control: normal, sport and sport+, four disc brakes with ABS, Clio RS steering wheel, electronic stability program and a six speed manual transmission.

A facelift was announced in July 2019, to be introduced for the following model year, but only for the Renault-badged model, produced in Brazil. This upgrade brings a slightly revised front end and a more significantly redesigned rear end.

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