Dacia to launch Sandero Stepway in Romania next week

Renault-owned Romanian car maker Automobile Dacia will present its Sandero Stepway model in Romania on Wednesday, June 17, the company has announced. Sandero Stepway is the European version of the Stepway model which has been selling under the Renault brand in Brazil since last year.

Stepway is not the Dacia SUV that has sparked a lot of fuss lately. That model will launch in early 2010.

The new car was fist presented at the Barcelona auto fair on May 7. Sandero Stepway is built at the Dacia factory in Mioveni, Romania.

The news comes as it emerged that the low-cost competitor for Dacia’s Logan model, which Skoda plans to launch in two to three years, may be a re-styled version of Skoda Octavia Tour. But the Czech car maker is analyzing the possibility to replace the first Octavia generation with a completely new model, Skoda Auto communications director Martin Lauer said.

He said there was an option to give Octavia Tour a facelift but no decision was made in this regard. He said that the company surely had the intention to introduce a low cost model in its offer.

He said Skoda Octavia Tour will remain in its current form on the market for up to three years and a decision to give it a facelift or replace it depended on how orders would evolve.