Dacia Sandero 1.0 SCe Hatchback

It’s the cheapest new car you can buy in Britain, with prices starting from less than £8,000. Context? The least expensive versions of the UK’s best-selling superminis, the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa, cost more than double – a little over £16,000. And on the face of it neither is twice as much car as the new Sandero.

See, it’s easy to build a car cheaply. You just have to cut corners. Do the bare minimum. Fashion the dashboard out of polystyrene. Beg, borrow or steal engines and platforms other manufacturers have long since mothballed. Pay the designer in ‘exposure’ and buy off-the-shelf infotainment systems. The results are usually pretty poor. 

But Dacia appears to have done precisely none of those things. The new Sandero – and we’re talking all new, here – sits on the same platform as the current-generation Renault Clio and Nissan Juke. It uses efficient, modern engines compliant with the latest EU emissions standards. Most versions have a six-speed gearbox. It looks smart, and inside has more than enough space enough for five people and their luggage. The outgoing Sandero, which we like very much, looks and feels cheap. This new one just… doesn’t. Not as much, anyway. It’s bewildering.

Admittedly nobody actually buys the cheapest Sandero. Less than one per cent of Sanderos sold are the entry-level Access model, with the vast majority of customers upgrading in pursuit of a better engine and more kit. Even so the most you can spend on a new Sandero is £12,795. That buys you all available tech (including cruise control, Apple CarPlay, keyless entry, climate control and a parking camera) and a CVT automatic gearbox.

The Sandero Stepway is a bit more expensive. About a grand spec for spec versus the normal Sandero, with prices starting at £10,995 and rising to £14,595. The pseudo-crossover with 174mm extra ground clearance and a more rugged-looking body accounts for 60 per cent of Sandero sales in the UK.

In size terms the new Sandero is very similar to the old one. At 4,088mm long, 1,848mm wide and 1,499 tall it’s a bit bigger than a Ford Fiesta.