12:11 pm, September 4, 2024
The third generation of Dacia’s popular SUV the Duster has gone on sale priced at under £19,000 – making it one of the cheapest SUVs on the new car market today.
Rivals such as the Skoda Karoq and Seat Ateca come with price tags that start at over £10,000 more than their Romanian counterpart.
There’s no shortage of engines, with the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder and 1.2-litre with 48V mild-hybrid petrol units as in the earlier car.
However, for the first time, the Duster can also be ordered as a full hybrid.
It comes with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a electric motor with a 230V battery.
Together, they produce 141bhp and 205Nm of torque, enabling the car to go from 0-60mph in 9.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 105mph.
The new car has a more angular and grown-up look than before with nifty little design touches such as the hidden rear door handles and Y-shaped designed front headlights and rear taillights.
David Durand, Dacia’s design director, said: ‘We wanted to make the all-new Duster’s design more attractive than ever before by making the style even more quintessentially Duster and Dacia.’
The Duster can be specified in four trim levels: Essential, Expression, Journey and Extreme (pictured at top).
The range kicks off at £18,745 for the entry-level model and features LED headlights, roof bars and air conditioning.
Spending an extra £5,000 will get car dealership customers the flagship Extreme model, which boasts synthetic leather upholstery, heated seats and 18-inch alloy wheels.
Dacia has opened its order books for the new Duster and customers can expect their cars to arrive in UK showrooms from November.
Report by Cameron Richards
