Once a basic means of personal transportation, the Duster helped the Dacia brand enter the mainstream. Alternatively marketed as the Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano, the first generation rolled out in 2010 under project codename HS on the B0 platform.
Renault worked its magic on the Duster in the fall of 2017 for the 2018 model year. Based on the B0+ platform, the second generation received a facelift in 2021. Late 2023 marks the first ground-up redesign of the small crossover, and the newcomer is – without a shadow of a doubt – going to be very popular.
On the one hand, the exterior design will convince many people to spend their hard-earned cash on the all-new Duster instead of a crossover from a different brand. The addition of a hybrid powertrain is also going to bring customers into Dacia showrooms, and the redesigned interior will convince said customers that Dacia has grown out of its low-cost phase.
Expected to start at under 20,000 euros, the Duster III does cost a helluva lot more than the Duster I. More than 13 years ago, the original used to retail at €11,900 or $12,790 at current exchange rates. Adjusted for inflation, that would be €16,825 or $18,080.
Part of the reason why the base price went up this much is – of course – inflation. We also have to remember that we're also dealing with more standard kit than ever before, as well as a more rigid platform and more standard safety features. It all adds up.
Photo: X-Tomi Design
Be that as it may, pixel artist X-Tomi Design rendered the all-new Duster with unpainted front and rear bumpers. The base spec theme continues with the halogen-only headlamps, the lack of fog lights, the unpainted mirror caps, and good ol' steel wheels.
X-Tomi Design has also imagined the Duster III with three doors, a configuration that harks back to the ARO 10 from the 1980s. To whom it may concern, the ARO 10 was advertised as the Dacia Duster in the United Kingdom. The little-known 4x4 couldn't be more different from the Renault-engineered Duster, though, for it features body-on-frame construction instead of a unibody structure. Unfortunately for Romania's automotive industry, ARO went under in 2006, three years after the final 10 was produced.
Last but certainly not least, X-Tomi further sweetens the deal with a pickup-bodied Duster III that ticks all the right boxes. More akin to the Renault Duster Oroch for South America rather than the Duster Pick-Up for Europe, the double-cab truck obviously boasts a longer wheelbase than the SUV-bodied Duster.
It's not known whether Renault's South American division will ever launch a Duster III-based successor for the Oroch, and it's too early to tell if Romanian coachbuilder Romturingia will be tasked with converting the Duster III into a single-cab truck. Whatever the future may hold in terms of body styles, trim levels, and powertrains, you can bet your bottom dollar the third-gen Duster will sell like hotcakes.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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