Almost as soon as it was marketed by Dacia at the end of the 2000s, the Duster saw its career gain momentum when Renault chose to sell it outside of Europe and North Africa, namely in Asia, in Russia, but also and especially in South America, making it the group’s best-selling model.
A real success story, in France with a continued presence in the top 10 as last September, but also in the rest of the world which was made possible thanks to the Logan, since the Duster used its base for more than 10 years as well as numerous parts, whether mechanical or related to the bodywork or glazing such as the windshield.
The marketing of the third generation of Duster last year allowed Renault to go a little further. Because now, the Duster is also sold in certain markets both by Renault, but also by Dacia, such as in Turkey in particular, where the Romanian brand persists with the old Duster, while Renault has acquired the latest generation.
A Bigster who lives up to his name
The arrival of the Bigster presented this morning by Dacia will allow Renault to continue its strategy, even if as a reminder, the manufacturer had indicated, before the arrival of the new management, that it no longer wanted to do rebadging. With generous dimensions of 4.57 meters, the Bigster is positioned at the very top of the C segment. It even exceeds the Renault Austral (soon to be restyled) which measures “only” 4.41 meters long and is on par with the ‘Arkana (4.57 meters).
By adopting the CMF-B platform, namely the version also used by the Symbioz and the Captur, but by pushing the limits as it also did with the Arkana, the Renault group can thus offer a large SUV, at a much lower cost.
A perfect choice for certain markets. With the Russian market now closed and the Asian market somewhat neglected by Renault which prefers to rely on Geely, we are thinking in particular of the South American market such as Brazil.
There, while the Duster offered is still that of the previous generation, Renault has planned to market a new larger vehicle, which will be based on the RGMP platform, a simplified variant of the CMF-B of the Bigster which is also used by the new Kardian, a model not offered in Europe. This new model will also use some of the Bigster’s engines, such as the 140 hp 1.2. equipped with micro hybridization, which should run on E85, a fuel in high demand in Brazil, while in France, the brand favors LPG.
The Bigster will remain exclusive to Dacia in Europe
Inside, the Bigster is identical to the Duster
On the other hand, in Europe, the Bigster is of course not intended to be offered by Renault, the manufacturer’s range of SUVs being already sufficiently supplied in this segment with the Austral and the Arkana. As for the Turkish market, we have, to date, no information in this regard.
