Almost one in four cars sold in the first seven months of the year was a Duster SUV.
According to the dealers, the current generation Duster has ceased production, with the plant already preparing for the next generation, which should be available in about a month’s time.
“At present the novelty is we cannot order the old models knowing that a new one is set to appear. The current Duster is only available from the existing stock, not on an order basis. We don’t know anything about the new model,” says a dealer from Pitesti. Automobile Dacia did not comment on the information, but say all questions about the new model will be clarified next week, after the Frankfurt launch.
While last year the commercial launch of the new generations of Dacia Logan and Sandero was four months’ away from the official launch and the same was true of the Logan MCV, Duster facelift could be launched sooner given that exterior changes are minimal, while the interior is the same as the Sandero one.
“We hope the new Duster will come within a month at the latest because production of the current one was suspended and we have to sell something. It will be more expensive because it will be better equipped, but we have not learned anything officially on the prices,” says a Dacia dealer in Brasov.
As for equipment and the engines of the new Duster facelift, the company has given no official information, but the dealers have received “unofficial” information.
“For the moment we know for sure the new model will have ESP for all versions, four airbags, brake assist and a metallic shield for the engine. Navigation and cruise control will be available as optionals. All safety systems will be standard for all models,” says the sales agent of a Dacia dealer in Bucharest.
In 2010, when it was launched, the Duster SUV became Dacia’s growth driver and in 2011 it ended up holding over half of the production of the Romanian Mioveni plant.
In 2011 the turnover of Automobile Dacia hit a historic high of EUR3.11 billion. The shift from a production dominated by Logan and Sandero, whose price ranged between EUR8,000 and EUR10,000, to one driven by Duster, which costs around EUR15, 000, was immediately apparent in the company’s turnover, as well as in Romania’s exports.
The launch of the new Duster facelift comes this year, at a time when the model sold both under the Dacia brand and under the Renault brand and assembled in Romania, India, Brazil, Columbia and Russia was the best-selling model of the Renault group in the first half of the year: 190,000 units.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)