Dacia has privately unveiled the 2018 Dacia Duster
in its top-spec configuration. Here’s IAB’s rendering artist Shoeb Kalania’s
depiction of the entry-level 2018 Dacia Duster based on it.
Dacia may boast how much more sophisticated and
premium its all-new Duster is, but that’s a story for the high-end
configurations only. The Dacia Duster is still a budget SUV and will likely
continue to sell in a stripped-down configuration priced below £ 10,000 in the
UK. To put things in perspective, the aim is once again to offer a C-segment
SUV for a mouth-watering price.
The base-spec 2018 Dacia Duster will likely feature
black bumpers, black ORVMs, black door handles and black roof rails. It
shouldn’t have LED DRLs or fog lamps either. While the top-spec 2018 Duster
sports 17-inch alloy wheels, the base 2018 Duster will likely settle for
16-inch steel wheels lacking wheel caps. On the inside, the base Duster should
have black cloth upholstery, front power windows and driver, front passenger
and side airbags. Features like air conditioning, cruise control and satellite
navigation are unlikely.
Like the first-gen Dacia Duster, the second-gen is
based on the Logan/B0 platform. Dacia hasn’t released the specifications yet.
Reports suggest that the 1.2-litre TCe petrol and 1.5-litre dCi diesel engines
will continue. The base model could continue having the 1.6-litre SCe petrol
engine paired to a 5-speed manual transmission.
The second-gen Dacia Duster will debut at the 2017
Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA 2017) on 12 September. First markets should welcome
the all-new Duster later this year or in early 2018. UK sales launch is
scheduled for Spring 2018, while the Renault-badged version will reportedly
arrive in India in H1 2019.