Dacia Duster, Bigster and Oroch for Australia

Renault in Australia says it still plans to release a range of models from the French car-maker’s Romanian budget brand Dacia, but they won’t arrive here in 2022 as previously hoped.

That’s because the current second-generation Dacia Duster, which has just received a major midlife makeover and was expected to spearhead Dacia’s assault Down Under, does not meet the Australian government’s imminent new pole side impact regulation.

Due in force from November 1 – two years before similar regulations hit other markets including Europe – ADR 85 has already forced the premature axing of models including the Nissan GT-R and Alpine A110, as well as the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Lexus IS, RC and CT.

However, Renault Australia’s new managing director Glen Sealey, who has controlled the French brand Down Under since Ateco Automotive took over local distribution on April 1, says he is now eyeing the third-generation Duster due around 2024.

In addition, Sealey expects the cut-price small SUV to be joined by the larger new Bigster mid-size SUV in 2025, followed by the next-gen Oroch dual-cab ute by around 2026.

But he says all three models will lose their Dacia badges and become part of the Renault range in Australia.

The two-year delay in importing Dacia vehicles to Australia comes as a blow to Ateco owner Neville Crichton, who previously told carsales he has been circling Dacia models for a decade.

But Sealey said the new-generation Duster, Bigster and Oroch will be perfectly suited to the SUV- and ute-hungry Australian market – and Renault’s local line-up – when they eventually arrive.

He said that unlike Dacia’s current model range – and the new-generation Renault Clio that won’t be sold here for the same reason – the next-gen SUVs and ute will not only comply with ADR 85 but be available with automatic all-wheel drive powertrains.

“The [Dacia] product will work really well for Australia, but we don’t see it working well for Australia today,” Sealey told carsales.

“[The existing Duster] has problems with side impact regulations and we would want automatic 4x4 drivetrains.

“And to be honest, Dacia are at maximum capacity today. To re-engineer [vehicles] for a small market like Australia, it doesn’t make sense. So we would wait until an all-new Duster on an all-new platform came through.

“But we’ve certainly got our hand up for both Duster and Bigster in ’24, ’25. And we think that what those two vehicles offer really suits the Australian lifestyle.

“You know, it’s about outdoors. It’s about 4x4 drivetrains. It’s about tough design that really works for the Australian lifestyle. So we’ve put our hands up already for both of those models.”

Sealey said Ateco would not launch Dacia as a separate brand in Australia. Instead – as in some other markets like South Africa, where Ateco distributes Maserati vehicles – Dacia models will be badged as Renaults here.

“If you look at Dacia around the world in terms of global markets, South Africa is a similar right-hand drive market … and Renault is a single brand over there. There is no Dacia brand, but Dacia is rebadged as Renault,” he said.

Sealey ruled out an Australian release for the newly revealed Dacia Jogger people-mover and the new Sandero hatch, which is selling up a storm in Europe and even out-sold the Volkswagen Golf in July, because neither model complies with ADR 85.

“We were certainly looking at Sandero and we were hoping to have it here next year. [But] when we looked at the re-engineering costs to do it, it just didn’t stack up,” he said.

“It [Jogger] is on the new platform, but it’s not the vehicle that we’ve studied and to make it work for us … it needs to fill a gap that’s not currently being filled by the Renault range today.

“And when I look at both Duster and Bigster they offer something unique compared to the Renault range.

“So, we’re going to concentrate on that SUV range in the medium term and will build our SUV range in the longer term.

“And we won’t deviate from our commercial vehicles. We’ll maintain our commercial vehicles with Kangoo, Trafic and Master. And they will be the two pillars of our brand moving forward – SUVs and vans.”

While the latest Dacia Duster has just been released in the UK, where a two-seat commercial version priced from just £12,795 ($A23,820) undercuts similar small SUVs, the larger Bigster has so far been revealed only in concept form but will rival Australia’s most popular SUVs including the Toyota RAV4.

Further afield, while Renault Australia has ruled out the Nissan Navara-based Alaskan ute for local release, it hopes to add the next-generation Dacia Oroch ute to its growing list of SUVs and LCVs.

“At the moment the Oroch is a pretty basic vehicle that would never pass the tests here in Australia,” said Sealey.

“But it will be replaced around ’25, ’26, I think, and when it’s replaced, for sure we will have our hand up for that.”

In addition, Sealey reiterated his intention to release a range of upcoming Renault EVs Down Under, starting with the Megane E-Tech in 2023 and also including the Renault 5 hot hatch and an all-electric replacement for the Alpine A110 sports coupe.

“Yes, we will go back into the hot hatch market but it will be electric hot hatches with the likes of the Renault 5,” he said.

“So we have the core Renault range – Captur, Arkana and Koleos – and if we can access some of that SUV product, the Duster and Bigster out of the Dacia range, they will form that sort of tough and essential side of the range.

“Then moving into that sort of ’24, ’25 period, [Renault Australia will offer] the Renault 4, the Renault 5 and the like.

“And then we have Alpine coming through ideally in ’25, ’26 with the replacement for the A110 and of course versions of the small hatch and SUV.”