Dacia C-Neo: Renault Moves Production to Turkey Amid Romania’s Challenges

Dacia’s new compact model, C-Neo, will be produced in Turkey, rather than in Romania, Renault Group CEO François Provost confirmed, reversing previous expectations. The decision comes after Romania enacted a minimum corporate tax in 2023 and faced economic headwinds, including a technical recession in the latter half of 2025. This shift in production highlights the increasing importance of competitive investment climates for automotive manufacturers.

The move follows a vote by the Romanian parliament on October 26, 2023, to introduce the IMCA – a minimum tax on turnover – effective January 1, 2024. Renault had previously announced plans to build the future Dacia compact models at its Bursa, Turkey facility in December 2023, as reported by French publication L’Argus. The C-Neo, a family break model, is intended to allow Dacia to compete in the European C-segment.

Since 2023, Romania has offered investors the most expensive energy in Europe, alongside uncertainty surrounding the IMCA tax – which has been repeatedly debated and ultimately remained in effect through 2026 despite concerns from the business community. The recent technical recession, with negative growth in the last two quarters of 2025, appears to validate those warnings. These factors, combined with inconsistent policy decisions, political disputes, delayed infrastructure development, a small domestic market of 156,000 new car sales, and a frequently changing scrappage scheme, have contributed to the decision.

In contrast, Turkey’s automotive sales reached a record high of nearly 1.37 million units last year. Renault’s decision underscores the appeal of Turkey’s more stable economic environment and robust market.

The company had discussed expanding capacity at its Mioveni, Romania plant from 350,000 to 400,000 units in 2019. However, projections for 2026 now indicate potential voluntary departures of employees and stabilized production levels around 300,000 units, supported by the Duster and Bigster models.