Newcastle Thunder and the club’s community project are in the driving seat for 2017 after entering into a new partnership with Newcastle Dacia.
Joining the club as its Official Community Partner, the city’s main dealer for the car brand will support the Thunder Community Project in their delivery of a number of key programmes, including community festivals, work around the 2017 Magic Weekend and rugby league development days, aimed at motivating, educating and inspiring via the power of sport.
Thanks to the support of Newcastle Dacia, the club will also be combining with local grassroots clubs in creating a series of “Master Class” videos, which will provide a valuable coaching resource to young players across the region.
The series of films will see Thunder players give exclusive insights into the specific skills and abilities needed to thrive in their position in the professional game.
Entering its third year of operation, the Thunder Community Programme focuses on the development of Rugby League and associated formats across the North East. Its aim is to develop and help co-ordinate the development of rugby league at grassroots level in the area across a variety of strands.
As part of the partnership, Newcastle Thunder’s 2017 home and away shirts will see the dealerships branding adorn the left shoulder, providing the opportunity to promote the site which retails and provides after sales services for the award winning Duster, Logan MCV, Sandero and Sandero Stepway models.
It is a partnership that will play a pivotal role in the continued growth of the Thunder Rugby Community Project and its work at grassroots level, with Thunder general manager Keith Christie pleased to welcome Newcastle Dacia on board.
Christie said: “This is huge for us and the game in the North East, Dacia are already a strong brand within professional Rugby League and have shown their support again. We now have an international name involved with us, which speaks volumes for Newcastle Thunder’s progression over the last two years.
“Dacia were very strong in their initial conversations with us that supporting the community was essential to their association going forward. We have a great working relationship already with them and we are sure that going forward we can both enjoy some very fruitful times going forward”
“The creation of the Master Class series is an exciting project and with the talent we have in our squad, is something I think is going to be really well received by the rugby league community.”
Dacia has a long history associated with Renault, the French brand first working with Dacia plants in Romania in the 1960s, before acquiring them fully in 1999. The brand concept is simple: to shake up preconceived ideas. Dacia produces spacious, robust, high-quality vehicles of original design that are affordable for everybody.
Dacia vehicles offer exceptional value for money. Reliable and resistant, they embody the best of Renault expertise. Relaunched by parent company Groupe Renault in 2004, the Dacia range has been expanding constantly and buyers have a wide array of vehicles to choose from, ranging from Dacia Duster, a sporty all-terrain vehicle, to light commercial vehicles or family vehicles such as the Dacia Sandero and Dacia Logan MCV. The concept continues to enjoy great success with over 4 million Dacias sold in Europe since the brand’s revival in 2004.
Dacia launched in the UK in January 2013 and enjoyed the most successful start ever for a new car brand in the UK. Dacia was rated 4th best car manufacturer for ownership satisfaction in the 2016 Which? Car Guide – out of 34 rivals including many luxury brands. Auto Express Driver Power, one of the UK’s largest automotive owner satisfaction studies, has placed Dacia in its top five best manufacturers for three consecutive years – out of 32 brands featured in the 2016 survey, with customers in particular praising the brand’s reliability.
Dacia was also voted number two in the 2016 Auto Express Driver Power Dealer Aftersales Satisfaction survey, proving that owners enjoy incredible value-for-money and an outstanding ownership experience. The Dacia Sandero has been awarded the title of “Best Small Car under £12,000” by What Car? for four consecutive years (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013). The Dacia Duster was named TopGear magazine’s “Bargain of the Year 2012” at launch.