New Dacia Duster to be sold in Romania for 12,350 - 18,750 euros

AGERPRES special correspondent George Onea reports: The new Dacia Duster will be sold in Romania for prices ranging between 12,350 and 18,750 euros, the carmaker announced on Thursday. 

According to the information provided as a first, during a test drive organized in Greece for Romanian journalists, the new Duster will be sold in three trim versions: Essential, Comfort and Prestige. 

The price for the Essential trim starts at 12,350 euros, VAT included, and increases depending on the type of engine, reaching over 16,000 euros, VAT included. In the case of the Comfort trim, the prices range between 13,400 and 17,100 euros, VAT included, the highest price of 18,750 euros, being for the Prestige trim. 

Asked why the Access trim, which will sell in France for less than 12,000 euros will not be sold in Romania, Dacia representatives explained that fewer than 1% of the Romanian buyers have opted in the past years for Duster cars with a minimum trim level. 

The new Duster, produced at the Dacia plant in Mioveni, was tested by Romanian journalists on Thursday on the roads in southern Greece. 

The latest version of the Duster Dacia was unveiled as a world first on September 12, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. In Romania, the model was publicly presented for the first time on September 24 at "Renault Day", an event attended by some 15,000 people, organized on the Dacia industrial platform in Mioveni. 

Dacia's best-selling model internationally, Duster comes with a new design, both on the outside and inside, but also with an extended range of equipment. 

According to the carmaker, the new Duster is powered by petrol engines SCe 115 HP (in the 4X2 version) and TCe 125 HP (in the 4X2 and 4X4 versions), with a manual gearbox. 

As for the diesel offer, the model proposes the dCi 90 HP engine in the 4X2 version and dCi 110 HP in the 4X2 and 4X4 versions, combined with a manual gearbox. The dCi 110 HP (in the case of the 4X2 version) can be equipped with an EDC double clutch automatic gearbox. 

First launched under the Dacia brand, Duster has been sold since 2011 under the Renault brand in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia), as well as in Russia and India. Until now, Duster has been sold in over two million units in more than 100 countries under the two brands.