The Romanian subsidiary of Renault Groupe, Dacia, is planning to invest USD 112 million, with USD 28 million coming from the Romanian Government to increase the local car production from 50,000 units to 4,00,000 units from coming September 2020, says a media report. The carmaker sells the Duster SUV and it is the bestseller in Europe and now the brand also intends to expand its product portfolio with other segment models.
The brand is likely to conceive Duster derivatives such as a pick-up truck based on the Duster which is likely to go on sale later this year. The pick-up truck will follow the lines of the Duster Oroch, which is likely to be made in partnership with Romturingia. Romturingia has already launched 500 units of the pick-up truck, 5 years ago. Another possibility is a long wheelbase version of the Duster which appears to have an electric powertrain and has already been spied testing in Europe. The third candidate could be a larger variant called Grand Duster which was supposed to rival the Hyundai Santa-Fe but the mid-size SUV has may not make it to production, due to expensive end product cost.
Other cars that could come to Europe rebranded as Dacia could be the Renault Arkana, India’s Renault Triber and China’s K-ZE that could prove an affordable option for the budget-friendly line that Dacia is looking for.
The Renault Duster in India is about to receive another facelift and the teaser images of the new car have been released by the brand which shows a revamped headlight, grille and bonnet line. The car is also expected to receive safety updates in accordance with the new automotive industry standards and as per new crash safety mandates from the authorities. In the engine department, the car is likely to remain unchanged and may get updated to BSVI norms soon.