Dacia unveils the third generation of the Duster, its star SUV

A more modern and angular design: Dacia presented this Monday, February 26 in Geneva, at the Motor Show, the third generation of its Duster, one of the SUVs best sold to individuals in Europe and which wants to gain market share in Germany. The new Duster will be offered at a starting price of less than 20,000 euros, still among the lowest on the market, in particular for these tall and heavy cars that look like 4x4s, criticized for their impact on the environment and their bulky size. .

The third Duster of the name adopted, like the other Dacias, the chassis of the Renault Clio and Captur, as part of industrial optimization within the Renault group. Made in Romania, it should gain a 7-seater version, called Bigster, at the end of 2024. Born in 2010, the Duster has since been produced in more than 2.2 million units worldwide. But after reaching 300,000 units in 2019, it decreased to 200,000 in 2023.

The group's economical brand wants to move upmarket overall and attract motorists in Germany, for example, who would be put off by the rising prices of new cars. “This is what we have been preparing for three years: we are completely revamping the brand,” underlined its boss Denis Le Vot during a press conference. Rather than low-cost, it now presents the brand as “essential and cool,” with an image focused on outdoor recreation.

Dacia has also renewed its only electric model, the small Spring, which was until now the cheapest battery model on the market, with its 200 kilometers of autonomy. However, the Spring is no longer entitled to the ecological bonus, being manufactured in China, and will soon have to fight with the more efficient Citroën ë-C3.

To support its “outdoor” image, the Romanian brand is also exhibiting its sand buggy prototype in Geneva, which will be driven in the 2025 Dakar by Sébastien Loeb, the five-time winner of the event Nasser Al-Attiyah and Cristina Gutierrez. The 3-liter, 360-horsepower V6 engine of this “Sandrider” must be powered by synthetic fuel, an area that Renault is exploring with its Saudi partner Aramco.

“We tried to optimize visibility in the car”, useful “at the top of the dunes”, as well as its robustness and the cooling of the cabin, to “keep a cool head”, underlined Sébastien Loeb. The nine-time world rally champion driver, who celebrated his 50th birthday in Geneva, will debut the “Sandrider” in October at the Morocco Rally, before facing this Dakar where victory still eludes him.