The Sandero’s increased wheelbase means rear-seat passengers get more leg room. There’s a very competitive amount of passenger and luggage space on offer here – which, when you consider that this is a B-segment supermini that costs less than some A-segment city cars (Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10, Toyota Aygo X) is a real selling point. This is a small, cheap car but one big enough for adults to travel in the back row in relative comfort.
But the big news in the cabin is the frankly staggering uptick in quality. It actually looks like someone has taken some care now, where the previous Sandero looked and felt cheap and drab.
Granted, there are no soft-touch plastics, but the padded cloth running around the cabin lifts the ambience (who ever thought we would be talking about that in a Sandero?) and even the air vents look as if they’ve had a once-over from a stylist. Previously, this car seemed like it was made to look and feel cheap to hammer home the value aspect. This time, it’s a different attitude and sense of quality, and you can tell.
The car’s central, dominant 8.0in touchscreen looks smart; and although navigating it is via a process entirely devoid of physical buttons, there is at least a handy set of stereo controls behind the steering wheel.
This infotainment system is standard on the mid-level Expression-trim cars, while Essential-trim base models have to make do with Media Control, which is basically just your smartphone wedged in the dashboard.
But we shouldn’t be flippant: reasoning that everyone has a smartphone these days, Dacia feels that even if you can’t stretch to the top-spec trim, you will still want to run a navigation tool safely, so it offers a Media Control app as a free download for your phone as well as somewhere to keep said phone within easy reach. We haven’t tried it out yet, but the theory seems sensible.
Meanwhile, the 8.0in touchscreen setup of mid- and upper-tier models has wired smartphone mirroring as standard. And on upper-trim models, a factory sat-nav system and a six-speaker stereo upgrade are included.