Renault reveals upmarket version of the Dacia Duster

Renault has revealed a more upmarket version of the Dacia Duster SUV, with the Renault Duster.

Dacia is Renault’s Romanian budget sub-brand and the Duster is one of its best-selling models, but now the French firm has given the cheap and cheerful SUV a premium makeover.

The Renault Duster features a new front end with a trapezoidal grille with LED headlights, while at the back, there are LED taillights and a horizontal light strip. The car retains its rugged SUV theme, with pronounced wheel arches, roof rails, lower-body protection, front and rear skid plates and sculptured bumpers.

Inside, a redesigned dashboard layout is complemented by a 10.1-inch infotainment screen and a digital driver’s display, while the raised centre console includes cup holders, a four-litre cooled storage compartment and a wireless smartphone charger. In the back, there is a powered tailgate, which reveals a boot capacity of 518 litres, and the 60:40 split-folding rear seats can extend that space to 1,789 litres

Under the bonnet, the Renault Duster is available with the firm’s new ‘E-Tech’ hybrid powertrain, which consists of a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to an electric motor that develops 158bhp; however, further technical details have not been revealed at this stage.

There is also the option of two petrol engines, with the entry-level 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged unit producing 98bhp and 160Nm of torque, and there is a 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that makes 158bhp and 280Nm of torque.

Unfortunately, the new Renault Duster will not be coming to the UK, with the car expected to go on sale in India in the spring, a country in which the original Duster has proven to be a huge hit. Sales will expand to further territories after.