“From £28,000 to £37,000? Your salary doesn’t move that fast. And the next time it could be £41,000.”
How big is the Dacia Bigster?
The Bigster is not Dacia’s first SUV of course, as the Duster has been around for a long time now and has proven very popular with UK car buyers. However, the Duster is smaller than the Bigster – a rival for the Nissan Juke rather than Qashqai, in terms of price if not physical size – while the new car will fill a gap in the brand’s range for a larger, more family-orientated model.
The Dacia Bigster will probably measure in at around 4.6 metres long, which is a notable increase over the 4.3-metre long Duster, and about the same size as the latest Ford Kuga, Volkswagen Tiguan and Vauxhall Grandland. It will undercut all of those models on price – some more than others – but offer nearly as much equipment, if Dacia’s other models are anything to go on.
We can see that the prototype spotted in testing has a set of slim LED headlights and those Y-shaped tail-lights, just as with the concept. However, the concept’s flared wheelarches and chiselled bonnet design appear to have been toned down for the road-going version.
The Bigster’s size and shape should help deliver the spacious interior we’ve been promised. However Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot has confirmed to Auto Express that it will definitely not be offered with seven seats.
Dacia Bigster interior and technology
Expect the Bigster to use the Duster’s new 10.1-inch central touchscreen, seven-inch digital instrument panel and Dacia’s new ‘YouClip’ system: various handy accessories such as cup-holders and lights can be attached to various mounts dotted around the cabin.
Underneath, the Bigster will sit on the same CMF-B underpinnings Dacia has used for the Duster compact SUV, Sandero supermini and Jogger seven-seater. The Bigster will be the largest model Dacia has put on this platform, but doing so will help make the price more affordable compared with rivals.
We know the CMF-B platform can accommodate hybrid technology. The Duster, for instance, is available with a mild-hybrid TCe 130 set-up that produces 128bhp, and can be equipped with two or four-wheel drive. Meanwhile, its Hybrid 140 system pairs a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two e-motors, and allows cars with the full-hybrid powertrain to drive up to 80 per cent of the time on pure-electric power when in the city.
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