Katrin Adt speaks to Autocar in exclusive first interview since joining French brand after 26 years at Mercedes
More often than not, a new car company CEO arrives with a lengthy to-do list and problems to fix.
In the case of Katrin Adt, she takes the reins at a time when Dacia‘s ascent has taken it to behind only Volkswagen for retail sales in Europe. Even in Germany, it’s a top-five brand.
The Dacia formula is working, and Adt’s predecessor Denis Le Vot would certainly have got his deposit back for how well he left Dacia.
Adt is hugely respectful of the work of her “very esteemed predecessor” and her intention is “to continue that success story but in a different world”.
A German who speaks French fluently, having gone to a French school, Adt took the job after a 26-year career at Mercedes-Benz in various roles that included a stint as Smart CEO.
Her first working day coincided with that of new Renault Group CEO François Provost (no word on if they learned where the fire exits were together in an induction), which brings a new look to the top at the French company. But Adt is an external recruit, and we meet at the end of only her third working week in Paris.
Given her freshness in the role, she is understandably keener to push those who have gone before her than lay down a marker for the future.
Le Vot provided great copy, and Adt wants to share his approachability and enthusiasm for presenting the brand while drawing on the talents of those around her and really getting stuck into the brand and where it operates. “I’m not someone who’s much alone at my desk,” she says.
To that end, she shares news of her visits to Dacia’s major engineering and manufacturing hubs in Romania and Morocco, which gave her insight to a brand that “means more for those countries, with a greater purpose than only building somewhere”.
Dacia means plenty to increasing numbers of buyers too, the brand having successfully shifted from cheap to good value. Adt is well aware that “to provide affordable mobility and to have personal freedom” in a world “where things get more expensive” leads to a “very purposeful brand, not just another car”.
Even from afar at Mercedes, working in a very different part of the market, Adt said Dacia’s success had made an impact with its “magic potion” of “simplicity”, backed up by its sales and distribution model.
But with the rise of low-cost rivals from China and the push towards more expensive electric vehicles at odds with that value proposition, Adt knows that Dacia is now already in that aforementioned different world.
She is confident that pushing Dacia as a “bold brand” with strong recognition can help it show that it does value cars better than any imitator or rival, and that the strong brand and market position and distribution network gives it an advantage.
“Electric mobility is to come. We have Chinese competition. The big issue or the big magic will be how we take those brand values into a new world.”
