This post was originally published on Autocar
With a more sophisticated platform, design-savvy look and fresh tech, has this all-new version lost sight of the model’s value appeal?
Real people buy a Dacia Duster. The car maker has sold 2.2 million of them at an accelerating rate since 2010 and currently makes 1000 per day.In 2022, even though the Mk2 was reaching the end of its life and couldn’t offer hybrid power, it became Europe’s top-selling SUV among private buyers – and Dacia aims to do even better with this smarter-looking and even more practical Mk3. The Duster’s drawcard has always been simplicity, practicality and toughness. Dacia has filled this area of the market expertly for the past decade.It nails the fundamentals and saves on the largely immaterial stuff (soft-touch interior mirror, anyone?), resulting in cars that are almost uniquely fit for purpose.The outgoing Dacia Duster was a bit of a breakthrough in this respect, just tipping over the edge from ‘feels cheap, but at least it is cheap’ to being a genuinely good car at an unbeatable price. But can the new Duster live up to the previous edition? Our short answer: the new car is better almost everywhere. Read on to find out why…