Flagship sibling of the new Duster will be marketed under the Renault badge in addition to serving as base for alliance partner Nissan’s incoming Indian-made SUV.
Largely still under wraps despite ongoing sightings of prototypes undergoing final testing, a fresh report from India has alleged that Renault-owned Dacia will be showcasing the eagerly awaited Bigster at next month’s Paris Motor Show.
Known so far
Announced as part of Renault’s post-pandemic turnaround Renaulution plan in 2021, the Bigster will take-up station above the Duster as the Romanian brand’s biggest SUV ever made, and also its new flagship.
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Reported back in January as debuting in 2024 and not 2025 as originally speculated, the Bigster will ride on the CMF-B platform that underpins every current Dacia model, and measures around 4.6 metres in overall length with seating for five or seven.
Dacia, Renault and Nissan
While a certainty for Europe under the Dacia name, Autocar India reports that a Renault-badged equivalent will also happen in a similar fashion to the Duster that went on-sale in Turkey last month with the Renault typeface instead of the Dacia Link logo.
Besides spawning a Renault version, the Bigster will also serve as base for alliance partner Nissan’s next SUV due out in 2025.
Set to be build in India, the Nissan-badged Bigster forms part of a two product programme that also involves the Duster being rebadged as a Nissan in a similar capacity to the original that revived the Terrano name between 2013 and 2020.
Goodbye diesel
In confirming the Bigster’s Paris debut, the Autocar India report further states that engine options will be identical to the Duster and therefore, omit the stalwart 1.5 dCi turbodiesel engine favour of mild-hybrid and full hybrid petrol engines displacing between 1.2 and 1.6-litres.
Both manual and automatic gearboxes will be offered, along with front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive, the latter equipped with the 4×4 Terrain Control system comprising five modes; Eco, Auto Snow, Mud/Sand and Off-Road, plus Downhill Assist Control.
Price will be key
While also set to be most expensive Dacia ever made, company CEO Dennis Le Vot stated that a price tag of below €40 000 (R787 168) will be applied to the Bigster without features being skimped upon as a form of cost-cutting.
“Less than 10 years ago, you bought something for €33 000 (R649 413), and then you go to the same dealership [for your new car], and they say the new car is €40-something thousand. Then lots of people will say: ‘Oh, no, I’m not doing that. It’s too expensive,” Le Vot told Autocar UK on the sidelines of the Duster’ debut last year.
“This is where Dacia makes sense, because we’re coming with, in the case of a C-crossover, the Bigster, and it’s not going to start with a four”.
More soon
Still to be established whether the production model would indeed be called Bigster or adopt a different moniker, more details are likely to emerge in the run-up to the Paris showpiece that kicks-off on 14 October.
At the same time, an announcement regarding the Bigster’s chances of coming to South Africa could be happen in light of the Duster’s unveiling now only happening in 2025 as opposed to the projected final quarter of this year.
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