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New Dacia Duster Confirmed to Go On Sale In January 2018

Compared to its relatives from the Renault-Nissan alliance, Dacia’s crossover calls dibs in terms of pricing. Shockingly affordable it may be, but the Duster can’t shake off its old age.
2017 Dacia Duster 21 photos
Photo: Dacia
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Revealed in 2009 and facelifted in 2013, the Duster could sure use a replacement. According to a report from the Romanian media, an all-new generation will roll into European showrooms starting early next year.

Speaking to motoring publication 0-100, Renault Commercial Roumanie chief executive officer Hakim Boutehra said: "We’re preparing to launch a new-generation Duster. It is a completely new model, whose sales could begin in Romania in January 2018.” When asked about the pricing strategy and all the other things that make the first-generation Dacia Duster such a big commercial success, the official said that his team “will try to do that.”

Based on the fact sales are go for January 2018, it doesn’t take much to imagine what the said timing means in terms of international debut. Most likely, the all-new Duster will make its first public outing at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show in September, this year's last major European automotive show.

Until the second-generation Duster goes official, including a rumored seven-seat model that might adopt the Grand Duster nameplate, the current Duster has one last card to play. Specifically, the 2017 Dacia Duster introduces the Renault-developed EDC dual-clutch automatic transmission. It's a six-speed unit like the EDC in the Clio supermini, but it does its job perfectly fine.

From a mechanical standpoint, the second-gen Duster is tipped to get a 1.2-liter TCe turbo four-cylinder and the 1.5-liter dCi turbo diesel already available in the current model. A naturally aspirated mill could also make the cut. As for capability, Nissan’s lockable all-wheel-drive system will be made available.

The current Duster starts from around €10.900 in its most no-frills configuration. A fully-loaded, meanwhile, takes things up to €19,300.
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Editor's note: Dacia Duster Black Touch pictured.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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