Renault Duster – 10 years old, normal flight

Cars also have birthdays and round dates. So Duster is celebrating its tenth anniversary in March of this year, though it does it quietly and imperceptibly, although it seems to me that this event has been undeservedly forgotten. In fact, for any model, this is a significant period of stay on the market, all the more it should be taken into account that Duster is still among the top three in its segment. You can congratulate this modest hard worker on an important date, and at the same time see what success he has achieved and what to expect from the brand in the future.

Of course, the car was presented to the public a little earlier, in 2009, but official sales started on March 2, 2010. It was on this day, one might say, that a new segment of the world market was laid, which later became very popular. Now it has more than 20 competitors and this list is constantly growing.

Initially, no one expected such a commercial success from the future Duster and it was considered as a niche model. At that time, in 2010, the Duster was released only under the Dacia brand, and in the European market its price started at 10,500 euros. And for 17,600 euros, you could buy it already in the top version with all the additional features, including all-wheel drive from Nissan and a Renault diesel engine.

The model, as they say now, “fired”. From the first days of its sales, it took the top of the podium in the brand and became the undisputed leader in the compact SUV segment. An important factor was undoubtedly the affordable price. From 2010 to date, Dacia has produced around 1.8 million Dusters at one plant in Romania, with a total market value of 27 billion euros.

After success in Europe, the triumphal procession of a small SUV around the world began. Already under the Renault brand, it has been sold recently to Brazil, India and Colombia. He received his first million sales in 2014.

Seeing that the model is selling steadily, the Renault Group is in no hurry to update its compact crossover. Duster has a generational change cycle of eight years, which is quite long by modern standards. The second generation was presented in September 2017 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and went on sale, again only in Europe, from the beginning of 2018. I must say that even by the standards of Renault, the renewal of the model range in our country is delayed. After all, eight years have already passed since the beginning of 2012, when sales of Dusters assembled at Avtoframos began, and the release of the second generation has not even been announced.

Now Renault Group engineers and designers have already begun developing the third generation of the Duster SUV, which is likely to be released in 2026. Prior to that, a facelift of the existing second generation will be introduced in 2022.

Of course, the third Duster will already be released in a different environment. This will be the time of hybrids and electric vehicles. And he will have to try on these technologies.

Today it makes no sense to describe the features and technical characteristics of the Duster, for so many years they have been studied and considered up and down. I just want to congratulate the national bestseller on its first round anniversary, wish good sales and loyal customers, and come on already Renault, drag us the second one, otherwise it's some kind of global injustice, even in Brazil it’s already new, and we all sell a ten-year-old model prescription.