The new Renault Duster has finally been revealed officially by Renault’s sister brand Dacia in Portugal. The new Duster will go on sale in Europe early next year, after which it’ll be available in other markets. The India launch is slated to take place in the second half of 2025. It is an all-round icon, encapsulating everything the Dacia brand stands for: ‘Robust and Outdoor’, ‘Essential but Cool’, and ‘Eco-Smart’. Duster was born in 2010, overhauled for the first time in 2017, and rose to the top by rewriting the SUV rulebook.
Duster is a proven success story. In its 13-year-long career, it has been awarded more than 40 accolades, production stands at 2.2 million units and counting, and it is steadily increasing in popularity, ranking as Europe’s best-selling SUV across all segments in the retail market in 2022. Around 1,000 Duster SUVs roll off the production lines at Dacia’s plant in Pitesti, Romania, every day – about one every minute!
Dacia has reinvented Duster’s design. It still has the striking looks that propelled the previous generations to the top – especially its solid, sturdy SUV character – but pushes them further with Dacia’s new, distinctive design.
David Durand, Dacia Design Director, said: “Before even starting work on All-New Duster’s style, we honed its proportions, to find a strong, balanced posture. When you get the proportions right early on, you don’t need artifices to tweak style later.”
Dacia’s philosophy of providing all the essentials applies to the All-New Duster’s design as much as every other model.
The design team started simply, by looking at the cabin, bonnet and wings. Then they assembled them into the whole car to give the model a modern, well-built style, with deliberately taut, self-confident lines.
The simple shapes and volumes add to the design’s power, including the sharp, vertical face, chamfered wheel-arch guards, large tailgate and side windows reaching seamlessly from bow to stern.
The All-New Duster is shielded with a stylish belt wrapping all the way around it. The side underbody shields connect to the hallmarks, then to the wheel-arches, which in turn connect to the front and rear bumpers, making the All-New Duster more robust and ready for the outdoors than ever.
The All-New Duster’s design is consistent, it moves with the times and combines its adventurous character with a more sustainable edge.
David Durand continues: “We wanted the exterior and interior design to be consistent. The taut and tough style inside makes you feel properly protected.”
This feeling also comes from the high, vertical new dashboard. The shape of the air vents, which resemble the wheel arches, adds to the consistent feel.
Like the outside, the inside comes with all the essentials – meaning the features that serve a purpose. A lot of work went into the ergonomics, including the 10.1-inch centre screen positioned in the driver’s field of view and at a 10° angle towards them. The new automatic transmission controls are particularly driver-friendly. The steering wheel’s flattened surfaces at the top and bottom make it exceedingly comfortable to handle.
The All-New Duster is built on the CMF-B platform, which plays a central role in Dacia’s industrial strategy. This competitive and extremely flexible platform was first used on the latest Sandero and Logan models, then on Jogger. It provides all the versatility Dacia needs to optimally deploy its ambitious product plan.
On the CMF-B platform, the All-New Duster has more space for passengers and luggage than the previous generation yet is only fractionally longer overall. The platform’s advanced engineering also reduces vibration and noise from the road, enhancing driver comfort. It provides a quantum leap in driving pleasure with an unmatched connection to the road.
The CMF-B platform has also embarked the All-New Duster on its journey to electrification as it can accommodate powertrains using mild-hybrid and full-hybrid technologies.
Patrice Lévy Bencheton, Dacia VP Product Performance, explains: “The new CMF-B platform is a key asset to develop the Dacia line-up both today and tomorrow. We can see all its potential on the All-New Duster. It houses high-efficiency electrified powertrains, significantly enhances performance across the board and keeps the appeal and accessibility that have made it a hit.”
The All-New Duster’s off-road capabilities are unparalleled in the non-expert 4×4 market (“non-expert” meaning 4×4 vehicles without close-ratio transmissions), so fans of the outdoors can enjoy it without worry, the company said in a media release.
