The first model from Dacia, Renault’s aggressively priced budget arm, is now ready to order in the UK. The Dacia Duster family-sized SUV can be had from just £8995, and is one of the unexpected stars at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Duster will reach UK shores in January 2013 at the same time as the Ford Fiesta-rivalling Dacia Sandero, which will come in at less than £7000.
Dacia has been a hit not only in emerging markets in eastern Europe but also in more established western European markets, including France and Germany, thanks to the amount of car offered for the money.
Renault hopes to tempt buyers who traditionally purchase secondhand cars into buying a new Dacia.
Dacias will be sold through existing Renault dealerships, but Renault doesn’t expect the appeal of Dacia to cannibalise sales of new Renaults. However, the firm admits that buyers of secondhand Renaults may well turn to new Dacias.
The base Duster comes with a 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine and front-wheel drive. This engine is also offered with four-wheel drive, but it is only available in entry-level Access trim, which doesn’t even include a radio.
The diesel engine is a 1.5-litre, with 106bhp in front-drive form and 108bhp with all-wheel drive. This engine is offered in mid-range Ambiance trim, which gets a CD player and USB and Bluetooth connectivity, and top-spec Laureate trim. The £12,995 front-drive Laureate is expected to account for the majority of sales thanks to its 16-inch alloy wheels, air-con and leather-trimmed steering wheel
This version is also the most frugal, returning 56.5mpg combined economy and CO2 emissions of 130g/km.
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What you need is what you get
I've been driving a Sandero for two years now, as Dacias have been available here in The Netherlands since 2005. I previously could only afford to either buy a 10 year old car or a dinky little Aygo-clone. Now I have a car that is bigger than a Clio, Corsa or Fiesta, more comfortable then a Golf or Cee'd and more value for money then any 10 year old car, because it comes with a good warranty, incredible reliability and affordable insurance and tax rates. If the contents of your wallet is dear to you, you don't have to think twice about buying a Dacia. You will spend less, no matter how you look at it.
There are some downsides, I have to be honest:
- Miles to the gallon. Compared to the Aygo-clones and Prius-alikes it uses a fair amount of petrol. Basically what a new car would do 10 years ago.
- Noise. It is noisy, because they saved on sound-proofing the interior. If you don't want to listen to the interiour noise, please put a decent radio and speakers in yourself, because the factory ones are crap.
- Plastics. The dash is made of hard plastic. But to be fair, how often do you sit in your car and carress the dash to feel the nice soft plastic? It's very easy to clean, that's for sure.
- Power. I've got the 1.2 liter 16 valve engine. It's not made for acceleration or high speed driving. But that's not allowed anyway. On the motorway, if traffic is moving, I move too and that's all I need, really.
So, Brits, if you lot are so keen on badges... just learn a new one!
Spare wheel?
On all the YouTube vids there is a proper spare wheel, the UK version gets gunk, or a skinny for the 4X4! This is meant to be a serious off roader isn't it?
This is bad news. I'd rather have non-electric mirrors and a proper spare wheel.
I don't care about a radio, like has been said this can be retro-fitted cheaply, but A/C is pretty much standard now and unless you get the top model you can't have it. Very clever Renault; most people will have to pay £13,000, plus more for paint and ESP..., so a £14,000 car then...
Spec
I agree that A/C is a must, and this would be a deal breaker for me - I love the Ambience spec, preferring the steel wheels etc, but would not buy a new car that didn't have air con. If you look at Dacia's french website you will see that they offer far more options, including A/C, but the list price is more than the UK one.
But does the badge work for Brits?
This car deserves to sell well, but sadly I fear the badge and image-obsessed UK market will overlook this car, regardless of its cheap price. If the Duster was simply rebadged as an Audi and cost 3 times as much, it would sell like hot cakes. A lot of UK buyers are still interested in prestige rather than a cars ability or price, so they'd quite happily pay over the odds for dross. Look at how many Audi A3s you see for example.
As for the Duster, while it's cheap for a reason, this cannot hide the fact that many manufacturers charge over the odds for their cars. I mean, while it may have more kit and tech, better materials and is more advanced, does a Ford Kuga really add up to £13k more? Or a BMW X1 £16k more?