The All-New Dacia Duster opens the next chapter in the story of a model that has grown into a standard-setter in its market. It is an all-round icon, encapsulating everything the Dacia brand stands for: ‘Robust and Outdoor’, ‘Essential but Cool’, and ‘Eco-Smart’. Duster was born in 2010, overhauled for the first time in 2017, and rose to the top by rewriting the SUV rulebook.
Duster is a proven success story. In its 13-year-long career, it has been awarded more than 40 accolades, production stands at 2.2 million units and counting, and it is steadily increasing in popularity, ranking as Europe’s best-selling SUV across all segments in the retail market in 2022. Around 1,000 Duster SUVs roll off the production lines at Dacia’s plant in Pitesti, Romania, every day – about one every minute!
STRONGER AND MORE ASSERTIVE DESIGN
Dacia has reinvented Duster’s design. It still has the striking looks that propelled the previous generations to the top – especially its solid, sturdy SUV character – but pushes them further with Dacia’s new, distinctive design.
David Durand, Dacia Design Director, said: “Before even starting work on All-New Duster’s style, we honed its proportions, to find a strong, balanced posture. When you get the proportions right early on, you don’t need artifices to tweak style later.”
Dacia’s philosophy of providing all the essentials applies to the All-New Duster’s design as much as every other model.
The design team started simply, by looking at the cabin, bonnet and wings. Then they assembled them into the whole car to give the model a modern, well-built style, with deliberately taut, self-confident lines.
The simple shapes and volumes add to the design’s power, including the sharp, vertical face, chamfered wheel-arch guards, large tailgate and side windows reaching seamlessly from bow to stern.
The All-New Duster is shielded with a stylish belt wrapping all the way around it. The side underbody shields connect to the hallmarks, then to the wheel-arches, which in turn connect to the front and rear bumpers, making the All-New Duster more robust and ready for the outdoors than ever.
The All-New Duster’s design is consistent, it moves with the times and combines its adventurous character with a more sustainable edge.
The front and rear skid plates are dyed in the mass, meaning the plastic is already coloured when it is injected to make the part. Not using paint is both good for the environment and for customers, as scrapes and scratches won’t alter the original colour
The side underbody shields, wheel-arch guards, hallmarks, triangles on the front bumper, front and rear skid plates and rear shield tail are made of a sturdy material called Starkle®. Designed by Dacia’s engineers and LyondellBasell’s chemists, the material, which was unveiled on the Manifesto concept car, is up to 20% recycled. Its composition includes white particles that give it a mottled look, which Dacia decided to flaunt instead of painting
David Durand continues: “We wanted the exterior and interior design to be consistent. The taut and tough style inside makes you feel properly protected.”
This feeling also comes from the high, vertical new dashboard. The shape of the air vents, which resemble the wheel arches, adds to the consistent feel.
Like the outside, the inside comes with all the essentials – meaning the features that serve a purpose. A lot of work went into the ergonomics, including the 10.1-inch centre screen positioned in the driver’s field of view and at a 10° angle towards them. The new automatic transmission controls are particularly driver-friendly. The steering wheel’s flattened surfaces at the top and bottom make it exceedingly comfortable to handle.
David Durand said: “Duster wouldn’t be Duster without a clever and practical interior that makes daily life easier for users. Everything is designed to make you feel at home, front and back”.
Lastly, the new ‘Y-shaped signature’ underscores the link between the All-New Duster’s interior and exterior:
Inside, the surface of the air vents are Y-shaped (and Copper in the Extreme trim), and the Y also appears around the door-panel armrests. The brand name in the middle of the steering wheel has been replaced with the Dacia logo
Outside, the All-New Duster’s head and rear lamps are arranged in a Y, and the same shape is visible on the alloy wheels. These are also chrome-free (the way the materials are polished is what gives them their shine)
David Durand said: “We wanted to make the All-New Duster’s design more attractive than ever, by making the style even more quintessentially Duster and Dacia, by vigorously and proudly reasserting our values: ‘Robust and Outdoor’, ‘Essential but Cool’, and ‘Eco-Smart’.”
ECO-SMART: MORE SUSTAINABLE AND AS AFFORDABLE AS EVER
True to Dacia’s values, the All-New Duster provides an affordable alternative for more sustainable driving, combining new hybrid powertrains and more recycled materials.
MORE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
All-New Duster is the first production model to use Starkle®, a new material invented by Dacia’s engineers. It is 20% reused polypropylene and entirely paint-free, meaning the carbon footprint from its production process is smaller. The side underbody shields, wheel-arch guards, hallmarks, triangles on the front bumper, (add-on) front and rear skid plates and rear shield tail are made of Starkle®. And making the front and rear skid plates with a dyed-in-the-mass material also limits the amount of paint used in the process.
Overall, roughly 20%* of the plastic in All-New Duster is recycled, which is considerably more than the usual ratio in the segment and an 8-point gain on the previous generation
Dacia has decided to stop using leather and decorative chrome in all its models, in both cases for environmental reasons
The user manual is smaller, to use less paper. The full version is available online, from the MyDacia application
* In the polymer category as proposed in the future regulation on end-of-life vehicles (ELV)
THE ALL-NEW DUSTER CONTINUES TO DELIVER UNRIVALLED VALUE
The All-New Duster will continue to fulfil Dacia’s value-for-money pledge. It will combine the most affordable prices in its segment with a larger passenger compartment than ever before into the best bargain on the market
It will feature more technology, including a new 7-inch digital dashboard, new 10.1-inch centre touchscreen and new infotainment system
The All-New Duster will be smarter than ever, with modular roof bars and the introduction of the clever Dacia YouClip accessory system
ESSENTIAL BUT COOL: MORE TECHNOLOGY AND MORE GOOD THINKING
The All-New Duster illustrates Dacia’s philosophy for technological progress. It must be sound, smart, affordable and make life easier for its users.
A SIMPLE RANGE WITH EVERYTHING YOU NEED
Today, about 70% of Duster customers opt for the higher-end trims. Accordingly, the All-New Duster line-up now has three tiers. These are, Essential, Expression, and a new choice between two distinct yet complementary top trims – Extreme, for fans of the outdoors and an intense driving experience, and Journey, for those who prefer low-key elegance and comfort. Both the latter will be available at similar prices.
Key standard equipment and features include:
Duster Essential: media control, fixed roof bars, six airbags, rear parking sensors and more.
Duster Expression: same as Essential + 17-inch alloy wheels, 7-inch digital dashboard, 10.1-inch centre touchscreen with Media Display infotainment system and Apple CarPlay / Android Auto wireless replication, reversing camera and more.
Duster Extreme: same as Essential + modular roof bars, washable TEP MicroCloud upholstery, rubber floor and boot mats, automatic air conditioning, Media Nav Live infotainment system with connected navigation, hands-free keycard, electric door mirrors, YouClip 3-in-1 system, Copper Brown decorative touches inside and out, and more.
Duster Journey: same as Essential + 18-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, automatic air conditioning, hands-free keycard, electric parking brake, wireless smartphone charger, Media Nav Live infotainment system with connected navigation, 6-speaker Arkamys 3D Sound System, and more.
*Article Source http://www.dacia.co.uk/
