Although has economic versions, with the signature eco2, Dacia Duster will receive in the European markets an LPG engine, designed to reduce the operating costs and the CO2 emissions. The first company that will power the Romanian SUV with LPG engines is Borel, who begun to sell a Duster on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) version in France.

The auxiliary equipment will be installed on the 1.6 and  105 HP engine and will be available in both versions 4 x 4 or 4 x 2.

The 4 x 2 version has received a 95 liters tank, which can provide additional autonomy of 700 km. On the other hand, the 4 x 4 version will have a 61 liters tank only, which ensures an autonomy of 500 kilometers. In both cases, the Dacia Duster LPG can offer its customers a total autonomy of over 1000 km.

The grill of the SUV was replaced with one with more chrome stripes across the Renault logo. The Chromium was used to modify the rear part of the car too: the band on the trunk, made in plastic for the European version was replaced with a chromed one with shiny ornaments that emphasize the logo of the car. The rear window wiper was also improved with a chrome strip.

The Renault Duster for the Russian market will be powered by a new 2.0 liter petrol engine along with the other engines.

The Renault Duster will be produced in Russia in 2011, at the Avtoframos factory near Moscow where now are produced 160.00 units of Sandero and Logan. Until then, the French will assembly the model based on parts made in Romania.

Photo by р|d

In Russia, the Dacia models are sold under the Renault brand and assembling these models in Romania ensures a competitive market price. According to the official announcement from Renault, the Duster version dedicated to the Russian market will suffer some minor changes that will bring the model up to the Russian customer preferences. These include some minor changes to the interior design, the equipment and the engines.

Along with Duster, Renault will assemble in Russia the Magane and Fluence compact models, which will arrive at the Moscow factory in the form of SKD (Semi Knocked Down) assemblies.

A first for the Romanian SUV, the kit prepared by Elia AG includes two sets of accessories, one more discreet named "Adventure" and one more complex which completely changes the SUV. The first package comes with a chrome front bar with the Duster logo, and chrome side steps.

The complete kit includes new front and rear spoilers, side steps and a chrome exhaust tip. The fog lights are replaced with LED lights and there are two different sets of rims: the first is called Alia Ventis, has 16 inches and costs 110 euros/rim, The second is called Opal Elia, measures 18 inches and comes with two different finishes, one black and one silver, with a  price of 185 and 169 euros/rim.

The Germans from Elia AG were not content only with the aesthetic changes and modified the engine that powers the Duster: the ECU system of the 1.5 dCi liter engine was modified to obtain a total of 122 HP and 265 Nm with 12 HP and 25 Nm more that will cost 589 euros.

Dacia has the fastest growth on the Spanish market, with 60.8% higher sales in July. The Spanish car market is dominated by Seat, Volkswagen and Renault, while Dacia is positioned on the 17 rank with 1325 cars delivered.

The Romanian car manufacturer positive development is largely due to the new Duster, the SUV being on the eighth position among the best selling 4×4 cars in Spain, with 309 units delivered in July.

         Top 10 best selling 4×4 cars

The main problem of the Romanian car manufacturer is now represented by the production capacity of the suppliers, who have been caught unprepared for the avalanche of orders from Western Europe and can not afford to suddenly increase the  production.

According to current data, the delivery of a Duster unit in Western Europe now reaches up to 6 months. The total orders for Duster gathered earlier this month to 35.500 units, of which 30.000 are from the Western Europe. In Romania, 1500 of the 3000 Duster commands have already been delivered.

The 1.5 liter dCi and 90 HP of Duster emits just 130 grams of CO2 per km and has an average consumption of 5 liters per 100 km. The particulate filter of the engine regenerates automatically without the intervention of a mechanic. The 2WD  Ambiance version of Duster, powered by an dCi engine with 90 HP has a starting price of 14.700 euros in France, while the Prestige version equipped with this engine has a starting price of 16.700 euros.

The 1.6 liter version of Duster emits just 160 grams of CO2 per kilometer by bioethanol E85 and 165 grams CO2 per km on petrol. The unit is flexible and can operate with either E85 ethanol or petrol, without any difference in operation of the engine. The use of E85 fuel is extremely attractive in France as a liter of E85 costs in average 0.86 euros.

While, the initial estimates were that Dacia will sell 2.000 models in 2010, in the first month after the launch, Dacia Duster has already 1000 orders.  The Renault Netherlands marketing director says that the main argument of the Duster success is the price of the SUV and that it is also a city model.

Dacia has many fans in Netherlands, and they write about the Romanian car manufacturer models on many sites and portals or talk about them on their special meetings (in one of these events Renault Netherlands launched the Dacia Sandero).

Dacia Duster will be launched in the UK market in 2012 with a starting price of 11.000 pounds according to first estimates. James May noted that you can not buy a Ford Fiesta with a low level of equipment for this sum and the difference of space between the two models is enormous. The Duster’s trunk space offered was also praised along with the five seats available.

"Finally the Duster is made by Renault, has proper engines and drives properly" said James May.

"In markets where Renault and Nissan is are not present, it is possible for Duster to get the Nissan logo. This will happen but only in circumstances where there is a fair production capacity of sub-assemblies," said a Nissan official quoted Autocar. This could mean that Duster could be launched in the U.S. market, where the Renault-Nissan group activates exclusively under the Japanese brand.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Nissan would sell Dacia models under it’s logo. The best known example is Nissan Aprio, the  model sold in Mexico, which is actually a Logan with a Nissan logo.