Dacia Mioveni: High energy prices risk future models — NRG-IA

The Dacia plant in Mioveni is entering a competition that could define the profile of the Romanian automotive industry after 2030. Mihai Bordeanu, Managing Director of Dacia South Eastern Europe and Country Head of Renault Group Romania, stated on September 4 that the factory pays approximately €180/MWh for energy , while Renault's operations in Spain have an indicated cost of €70–80/MWh . At the same time, Renault has not yet made a decision on which plant will produce the next-generation Duster and Bigster. The current models continue to be built at Mioveni. The issue lies with the next product cycle. For the Romanian plant, continuity can no longer be taken for granted: Renault is demanding a competitiveness trajectory that justifies the allocation of future volumes. The energy price gap is spectacular. Taken directly, the figures presented by Dacia's management mean that Mioveni pays approximately 2.25 to 2.57 times the cost indicated for the group's Spanish operations, representing a gap of €100–110 for every MWh consumed. The commercial contracts of the two operations are not public, so this comparison cannot be automatically extended to the entire Romanian and Spanish industries. However, for Renault, which compares plants within the same group when allocating models and investments, the difference highlighted by its own management serves as a direct industrial indicator. Energy has become a competitiveness handicap for Romanian industry The issue highlighted by Dacia goes beyond a single factory. In its 2026 country report for Romania, the European Commission points out that energy affordability continues to impact industrial competitiveness. In 2025, the average wholesale electricity price in Romania was approximately €110/MWh , compared to the European Union average of €85/MWh , with Romania recording the fourth-highest level in the EU. For the industrial consumer category analyzed by the Commission, the price in the first half of 2025 was around €163/MWh , very close to the European average of €164/MWh. The difference compared to Dacia's figure is not a contradiction: European statistics and a factory's contractual costs measure different things and depend on consumption profiles, contracting, delivery periods, tariffs, and procurement mechanisms. Spain also offers a structural contrast. As early as 2021, Renault Group and Iberdrola signed an agreement for the supply of renewable electricity required for Renault's operations in the country, a partnership later expanded to include self-consumption, long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), and other energy solutions. The financial terms of these contracts are not public, so the €70–80/MWh level now stated by Dacia's management cannot be attributed solely to this arrangement. For an automotive plant, energy is not the only cost, but differences of around €100/MWh become highly relevant in a group that shifts capital and projects between factories based on total cost, productivity, and industrial outlook. Duster and Bigster account for nearly 93% of Mioveni's production The stakes become much higher when looking at the production structure. In 2025, the Mioveni plant produced 297,182 vehicles . The Duster accounted for 175,318 units, and the Bigster for another 100,375. Together, the two SUVs totaled 275,693 vehicles , equivalent to approximately 92.8% of the plant's entire output . Almost the entire current industrial architecture of Mioveni is thus concentrated around these two models. Renault indicates that approximately 90% of the vehicles produced in Mioveni are exported . The decision regarding the next generations, therefore, does not only concern Dacia's offering on the Romanian market, but one of Romania's most important industrial export production flows. This pressure comes at a time when the plant's volumes have already begun to decline. ACAROM reported 129,404 Dacia cars produced at Mioveni in the first half of 2026 , compared to 157,206 in the same period of 2025, indicating a contraction of approximately 17.7% . Bordeanu estimates that the factory will end the full year of 2026 with a double-digit decline in production. This trend does not determine where the future Duster will be built. However, it shows that the competitiveness debate is taking place at a time when the plant no longer benefits from volume growth to buffer higher costs. Renault is already distributing new projects among European plants Within the Renault Group, the competition for the next generation of vehicles is already visible. In Spain, the group announced in 2026 the allocation of five new models and a new electric platform to its local plants, following a new social agreement. This is precisely the kind of industrial decision for which the group's major plants compete: not merely maintaining existing production, but securing access to the platforms and models that will drive volumes in the next cycle. The Revoz plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, has also…