Sized-up Dacia Bigster set show real self at Paris Motor Show

Largely still under wraps despite ongoing sightings of production models undergoing final testing, a 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, the Bigster will ride on the CMF-B platform that underpins every current Dacia model, and measures 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 the Renault version, the Bigster will also serve as a base for alliance partner Nissan’s next SUV due 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 showing, the Autocar India report further states that engine options will be identical to the Duster and therefore, omit the 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 set to be the most expensive Dacia ever made, company CEO, Dennis Le Vot, said 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 it will be called Bigster or have 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 happen in light of the Duster’s unveiling now only happening in 2025.

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