Dacia Duster review (02/10/2013)

YOU can say what you like about the Dacia Duster — and believe me many have — but in my view this machine represents a new era for the motor industry and new thinking too, offering as it does an extremely cost effective package for families alike, admittedly with few frills, at a time when just such a thing is truly needed by the buying public.

There are those who might dismiss the Dacia on the basis that it is just another cheap and ultimately doomed attempt to secure market share for the Renault-owned Romanian-built brand, but I think these people are entirely missing the point here. Certainly the Dacia might be as cheap as chips — whichever of the two models, Duster and Sandero, you choose — but its cars are built on proven and sturdy mechanicals, are endowed with decent kit levels and they don’t look bad either.

And the Duster we tried recently, when examined closely, is a very acceptable offering from the company and it also represents a whole new line of thinking. In their efforts to make Dacia a widely accepted and purchased brand, those pulling the strings decided the bargain basement route was the way to go in order to popularise it. And they have been very successful at it too, judging by the sales figures from such important European markets such as Germany and France. But here in Ireland — austerity central — you would have thought dealers would be crushed under the feet of eager punters only too anxious to dispense with their cash in return for a new car at prices you’d hardly have seen 10 years ago.