So It Begins: Dacia Duster Preorders Available

And here's the moment when the fun begins. Up until now, we've heard a lot of things regarding Dacia's first ever SUV, the so-called Duster, but the big moment will actually happen next week at Geneva where Renault's Romanian brand will take the wraps off the car. Obviously, everybody expects the car to post a success at least equal to Logan's, Dacia's well-known sedan that laughed in the face of the crisis and posted sales increases all over the globe.

According to latest reports, the Duster has already caught the eye of Romanian consumers who hurried to place a preorder. At this time, Dacia's Romanian dealers received hundreds of preorders and some orders even agreeing to an approximately $1,500 down payment to reserve a Duster.

Obviously, this led to optimistic forecasts from Dacia who said that 2010 production will count around 60,000 units, with figures to go up to 250,000 vehicles in the upcoming years.

Pricing for the Duster is believed to start at around 12,000 Euros for the entry level configuration and to go up to 17,000 for the top-of-the-range version with all-wheel drive.

According to a leaked brochure, the entry-level version is the Duster and, just as you would expect from a low-budget trim, it comes only with a few features. For example, it comes with ABS and EBA, airbags for both the driver and the front passenger, power steering, manual exterior mirrors and radio connectivity (so no player included in the package).

There will be three engines available across the range, as follows: two diesels - 1.5 dCi 85 (85 horsepower) and 1.5 dCi 110 (107 horsepower) - plus a gasoline unit - 1.6 16V 110 (105 horsepower). There are two transmission options, manual with five or six speeds.