The new 7 seater SUV from Dacia is expected to be launched in the second semester of 2018 and will respect the Romanian car manufacturer philosophy: great value for the money.
After the English journalists from Autoexpress published some photos with a design version of the expected 7 seater SUV from Dacia, a new magazine published some photos with a new design version for the Grand Duster. It is the French magazine, Auto-Moto.com who based their design version on the Datsun Go-Cross sho wcar. The low-cost brand, who is also part of the Renault-Nissan Group, presented the new Go-Cross SUV at the Delhi Auto Expo in August 2016. Although we don’t have any information about the Grand Duster, we can assume that the two models will have some common elements, including design and performance.
With more than one million Duster units sold from the launch in 2010, Dacia wants to capitalize on this success and to update the look of its SUV in the autumn of 2017. The new Grand Duster will also use the new version but will be slightly bigger. If the current version of the Duster measures 4.32 meters in length, the new 5 seat version will measure 4.4 meters and the Grand Duster will measure 4.5 meters. The 10 centimetres difference is needed to accommodate the third row of seats.
The new Grand Duster will be available in 2 wheel drive and in 4 wheel drive and it will have and automatic transmission option, the currently used 6-speed EDC double clutch. On the inside, the new Duster will receive some updates that will improve the ergonomics with the car. The new multimedia system will be improved and will have new connectivity features, that are already found on Renault R-Link 2. In terms of safety, the new Dacia Grand Duster could offer, as an option, an automatic low-speed emergency braking system.
Although it will be difficult for Dacia to maintain the current starting price of 12,000 euros for the new version of the Duster, we are convinced that the Romanian SUV will continue to be the cheapest model on the market. The Grand Duster will cost a couple hundred euros more than the 5 seat version and will defiantly be the cheapest 7-seater available.
The Dacia Duster has just celebrated 10 years since its launch and is a very popular model in France, with 36,428 units sold last year with 5.6% more than in 2015. The Duster has 1.8% market share and is the 13th most popular car in France in 2016.
Source: Auto-Moto.com