Dacia Duster

After winning the Car of the Year award in Romania, Dacia Duster receives another award, this time internationally. The Romanian SUV has received the Autobest 2011 award, surpassing Opel Meriva and Renault Fluence. On the podium were also Kia Venga and Citroen C3. Of the 14 jurors, 11 voted Duster as winner, while three gave the first place to Meriva. Although the comparison is ambiguous, Dacia Duster received 863 points, Meriva 822 points and Fluence 717 points.

"Dacia Duster is the most popular car in the Autobest region, if not across Europe. The Autobest jury merely confirmed this status to Duster, who became a successful model anywhere in Europe" said Ilia Seliktar, the President of Autobest.

The 15 journalists who participated in the 2010 edition of the Autobest prize awarded points and formed the final standings in the criteria of the competition decided ten years ago. Dacia Duster won the first place with 24% of the points, an average score for the results of the past years. Renault Symbol has received 24.4% of points last year and the Chevrolet Cruze 23.4% of points obtained in the same year – making the closest competition in the past five years.

After qualifying in the final of the European Car of the Year competition, where was ranked seventh of more than 50 participants, Dacia Duster won the title of the Car of the year in Romania.

Not more than 15 of the 17 jurors of APAR awarded Duster 15 points each, the maximum available for each juror and decided that the Duster is the most important car launched in Romania in 2010. Finally, Duster has gathered 243 points, leaving far behind its rivals this year. In second place came Citroen C3 (130 points), and the on the podium was Opel Meriva.

The French car manufacturer, Renault, has big plans with the Dacia Duster. The resounding success enjoyed by the Romanian model in Europe has led the French officials to think at a right hand drive version of the SUV produced in the Mioveni factory.

There are rumors that say that the Dacia Duster will be launched in Australia, but to avoid overcrowding the local market with multiple brands of the same manufacturer, the Romanian SUV will be sold under the Renault logo. The biggest problem for importing Dacia models in Australia will remain the cost of the transport and distribution.

Thus, exporting the cars produced in Romania is not a viable solution as the transport from Romania to Australia would lead to extremely high costs, which could lead to an increase in the selling price and thus would eliminate the price advantage of the Dacia models. The solution for selling the Dacia Duster in Australia would be to import the cars from the Renault factory in Mahindra, India.

The Renault Group unveiled the new Dacia Duster Ice, the competition model that Alain Prost will run in the Andros Trophy in the 2010/2011 season. The Andros Trophy is a competition organized on ice and is composed of a 10-lap race with 10 competitors. The 2010 Dacia Duster model is equipped with the same 2987 CC V6 engine, but offers 350 HP and 360 Nm. The unit was produced by Renault-Nissan and was modified by the Renault Sport Technologies engineers. Compared with the previous unit, the new engine provides 20 Nm more at 3,000 rpm and is tuned for high torque at low speeds.

Dacia Duster Ice received a new set of shock absorbers, and a new special suspension system. The Duster Ice has a six-speed sequential transmission SADEV, all wheel steering, rear differential and limited-slip center. The vehicle mass is 950 kg and the fuel tank has a capacity of 25 liters. The wheels are made of magnesium, have a diameter of 16 inches and a width of 5.5 inches, while the tires are Continental Ice Racing Contact 3.

The Dacia Duster Ice receive discs on all wheels. In the front axle, the disc has a diameter of 260 mm and is ventilated, while the rear discs have a diameter of 265 mm and is not ventilated. Compared with the previous model, the Renault officials have noted significant improvements in performance, which should give Alain Prost a chance to win the title in the 2010/2011 competition season.

The first race of the season takes place on 4 and 5 December at Val Thorens. The second stage takes place in Andorra on 10 and 11 December and the third stage of the Trophee Andros Competition 2010/2011 season takes place on 17 and 18 December in L’Alpe d’Huez. The Trophee Andros 2010/2011 final takes place in Clermont/Superbesse on January 29, 2011 and the superfinal takes place at the Stade de France on March 5, 2011.

Renault is developing in this period a future compact crossover that will enter the French manufacturer range. The new crossover will be built on the Nissan Juke platform, but will be slightly larger in size and will fit perfectly between Juke and Qashqai. Under these conditions, the new model from Renault could become a higher level version of Dacia Duster and could attract customers who are not satisfied with the low-cost idea promoted by the Romanian model.

For now, the code name of the future Renault crossover is X87 and will become, according to British from Autocar, a substitute for the Koleos SUV, a model that did not rise to the claims of the French car manufacturer.

The Renaul Crossover will be presented in concept form at the Geneva Motor Show 2011 and will be characterized in the design chapter by the lines that are present in the recently-launched prototype Renault DeZir. The series version will be presented in 2012 and the model will be produced, most likely at the Renault factory in Valladolid, where the French will produce the series version of the electric model,Twizy Z.E.

After establishing new order records for Dacia, the Duster continues the success story. Although it was criticized and praised by the international press, the Romanian SUV seems to defy the other important car brands even when it comes to international recognition.

Included in the list of 41 candidates for the title of European Car of the Year in 2011, the Duster has apparently convinced the jury made up of experienced journalists and managed to secure a deserved place in the grand final. Thus, the Dacia Duster brings the Romanian car manufacturer in the elite of the automotive industry alongside traditional car manufacturers like Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Ford, Nissan, Opel and even Volvo.

Dacia Duster was officially announced as one of seven finalists of the contest Car of the Year 2011 (COTY) alongside Citroen C3/DS, Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Volvo S60, Opel Meriva, Nissan Leaf and Ford C-Max.

The jury of the European Car of the Year consists in of 59 members, representing 23 European countries according to country size and importance in the automotive industry. The countries that have the most jury members are France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain, with six members.

"We are proud of the fact that Dacia Duster is among the seven finalists of the most prestigious automotive competitions in Europe. This selection confirms the qualities of a Romanian product that succeeded on the most demanding commercial Western markets: Germany, France, Italy. With over 80,000 orders worldwide registered, Duster is a tremendous ambassador of the Dacia brand and of Romania" said Fabrice Cambolive the commercial director of Dacia.

The Duster price has brought a impressive wave of demands which Dacia could not satisfy. At this time, the sales are going very well, but the problem the Romanian car  manufacturer is facing is the delivery time. The 4×4 production model makes some European customers to wait even six months for the delivery.

To reduce the waiting time, the Romanian car manufacturer announced that will increase the production of Duster, the second time since the launch of the SUV. In these circumstances, the Pitesti factory will increase its production capacity from 150,000 units to 180,000 units per year, from 2011.

To increase the Duster production, Dacia will transfer a part of Sandero production to the Morocco factory in Casablanca. The success recorded by Duster in just five months from it’s official launch on the European market is beyond expectations. The Romanian SUV has managed to have already 75,000 units ordered.

Although Dacia has not prepared something spectacular for the Paris Motor Show, the Romanian car manufacturer has new targets to achieve with the aid of Renault. Dacia will grow significantly in the coming years, continuing to improve its offer. The first positive signs will appear in the next few years when the Romanian brand will seek to adopt a slightly more attractive design, without departing from the identity that has created so far.

Laurens van den Acker, the chief designer of Renault, spoke in Paris, in an interview for  Automarket about the future philosophy that the car manufacturer of Pitesti will adopt. "Dacia will evolve in the coming years with the aid of the design center in Bucharest. The Romanian brand will be different from the Renault brand, because the French offer a more Latin, emotional and sensual design for the segment, while Dacia offers a Eastern European design that is more rational and robust. This approach of the design will not change in future, and the differences will become increasingly larger " said Laurens vand den Acker.

The head of design of Renault thinks that Duster is the most successful product of Dacia, showing an attractive look that is also robust and solid. "This means that the future design of Logan and Sandero will be based on what we see today in Duster. Because we were pressed for time we had to present some existing models like Sandero, which has received the Dacia logo. The future generations, however, will have several changes in the design. The future Logan will adopt a modified front and rear aspect seriously. If the reaction is positive, we have a third-generation Logan with a design radically different from what we see today, "concluded van den Acker.

The interest shown by the European tuning houses for Dacia Duster is growing in the last period, and because many Duster units were sold in Germany, it was expected that a tuning package will be produced here. The latest tuning kit proposal comes from the specialists of RaceChip, who received the Quality Award in 2009 in Germany.

The tuning house will not modify the exterior of the Romanian SUV, preferring to focus its resources on the engine under the hood, the 1.5-liter dCi diesel with 110 HP.

RaceChip proposes a first package, which increases the performance of the diesel unit with 26% for power and 27% for the torque: the power reaches a total of 139 HP and the torque increases considerably, from 240 Nm to 306 Nm. The price of the first package proposed by the Germans is only 129 euros.

The second package is named RaceChip Pro and offers a 30% improvement in power and 33% improvement in torque. More specifically the Duster will be powered by an engine with 143 HP and 321 Nm torque. The price of the second package is 229 euros.

According to the information provided by German tuning house, the two kits improve the diesel engine power and also its consumption.

After Duster received the first tuning kit from the Elia AG tuning house, the Romanian SUV enjoys a new interpretation. This time, the tuning kit comes from the more popular tuning house Cobra that is responsible for the modification of the best 4×4 models in Europe.

The designers from Cobra have chosen a more individualistic approach of the Romanian model, on which they installed a large front bar with 60 mm diameter, finished in chrome and complemented by a set of tubular side skirts. The 4×4 model, built in Mioveni, will have a modified grille and a stainless steel exhaust pipe with 80 mm in diameter at the end. The 18-inch alloy wheels, with multi spoke and 225/50 tires will change the look of the Duster.

Cobra announces in the official release that the package of accessories comes with a warranty of two years and a European certification.