Romania’s budget SUV will be spawned a utilitarian version, which won’t be tied to the Renault Oroch.
Isn’t this the Duster-based pickup truck? These images are of Romturingia, a local coachbuilder. This means that this is not an official Dacia product. All this will change, however, as Dacia’s parent company Renault announced that the Duster pickup has been homologated and will launch later in the year.
Hakim Boutehra (General Director of Renault Commercial Roumanie) revealed plans to create a utilitarian version the highly successful Duster SUV in an interview with .ro. Engineers at Renault’s Titu technical center have joined forces with Romturingia coachbuilder to make it possible.
The pickup is not known much else, though Boutehra stated that it would be a work-oriented vehicle and not a lifestyle pickup like its Duster-based Renault Oroch counterpart launched in South America in 2015. It will be faithful to the Dacia brand’s core philosophy of a simple vehicle with minimal fuss that is easy on the pocket.
Boutehra shared other details about Dacia’s 2019 plans, including the announcement of Duster’s workhorse. At least three special editions will be available for various Dacia models, one of which is for the SUV.
Dacia is a key player in the European Union. It was the 14 best-selling car manufacturer last year and surpassed even Kia. According to data published by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the Romanian marque sold 528,249 units, a significant increase of 11.7 percent over the previous year.
If all goes according to plan, Duster pickups will go on sale in second trimester and be available at Dacia dealers as an official product. We are glad that it is finally here, even though it is not clear what shape it will take.