The Dacia Sandero holds a pretty significant crown since its launch in the UK, it's been the country's cheapest new car. With a price tag that starts at less than £7, 000, buying a new car doesn't get any cheaper than this and the Sandero even competes favourably with some used models. You might be expecting the Sandero to be a tiny, no-frills city car for that price. But you'd only be half-right, as it's actually a rival for superminis such as the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa in terms of size, while competing with the smaller Ford Ka+ and Vauxhall Viva in terms of price.How does Dacia do it? Well, the company's actually a sub-division of Renault, and as a result it has access to the company's vast back catalogue. While the Sandero is ostensibly a new car, it's actually based on components inherited from the Mk3 Renault Clio a car launched in 2005. Not only does Dacia not have to foot research and development costs for its components, it builds its cars in Romania where labour costs are cheaper than most of the rest of Europe.Despite its aged underpinnings, the Sandero uses current Renault powertrains a pair of petrols and a diesel. If you want that headline-grabbing low price, you'll need to opt for the least powerful engine. It's a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol that makes do without a turbocharger, and as a result puts out just 75hp but surprisingly, given the Dacia's generous dimensions, it doesn't feel too underpowered. It replaced a 1.2-litre four-cylinder with the same power output back in 2016. Those after a little extra pep can opt for the 90hp 0.9 TCe a turbocharged three-cylinder petrol, which is more appealing on paper but has a rather lumpy power delivery that some may not get along with.