Dacia Duster in Brazil in 2011

Renault has fairly ambitious plans when it comes to Dacia's Duster, the Romanian brand's first ever SUV, which is going to enter production in Europe in spring 2010. Renault's Brazilian division recently announcement a $570 million investment in local operations for the next three years but officials of the company refused to comment on future plans.

However, it is believed that Renault is looking into ways to bring the Duster in Brazil, with the first models expected to be sold in the country in 2011, according to a report by insideline.com.

Dacia's Logan and Sandero are already on sale in Brazil, but both models are rebadged as Renault. The French manufacturer wants to take full advantage of the local SUV segment, as this side of the market is still unexplored. In this context, a budget-minded SUV coming from Renault is likely to return high sales, similar to both Logan and Sandero which are already among Brazil's best-sellers.

Rumors are hinting that Renault is also pondering a potential US return, with Logan and Sandero to be two of the first models to be sold locally. Still, the French manufacturer hasn't commented on the reports, so such a move is still unconfirmed.

On the other hand, the Logan recently became the best-selling foreign car in Russia, beating Ford Focus that topped the market for several years. As a result, Renault plans to increase production of the local plant and will also begin selling the Sandero hatchback in 2010. Russian production of the recently-presented Duster SUV will begin in 2011.