Exclusive: 2025 Renault Duster confirmed for Australia

The Dacia Duster is locked in for a 2025 arrival into Australia, paving the way for a new breed of value-focused Renault SUVs.

The second generation of the compact SUV, which will drop the Dacia badging locally and simply be called the Renault Duster, could also lay the groundwork for a lifestyle-focused Renault ute that could reshape perceptions of the French brand.

With a cult following in parts of Europe, the Duster is a crucial component of Renault Australia’s growth strategy as it looks to improve sales.

“Duster is confirmed for Australia, it’ll certainly be coming through,” Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey told carsales, adding that it would add significant volume for the brand locally.

“It does have the potential to be perhaps our best seller,” he added, hinting it could sell thousands of cars a year Down Under.

Key to the Duster’s potential is its bold and adventurous design and decent off-road ability in all-wheel drive models.

While many compact SUVs don’t bother with AWD versions, Sealey sees that option as a crucial pillar of the Duster’s positioning.

“It’s a vehicle that really strikes at the heart of the Australian lifestyle, a value offering in terms of being able to get away and enjoy your weekend … and a great metropolitan vehicle in terms of style,” he said.

“It’s going to be a bit of a unique product. It’s going to have some reasonable off-road credentials.”

At that end of the market only Subaru and Suzuki bother engineering their cars to perform above the mainstream SUV pack beyond the black-top.

Returning from a recent trip to the Geneva motor show, Sealey said he received information that the Duster had been approved for sale in Australia from 2025, where it will add to the smaller Captur and larger Arkana and Koleos, each now showing their age.

Sealey said pricing for the Duster still needs to be negotiated but that the intention is to launch the Duster locally “mid-way through next year”.

“There’s still pricing and discussions to happen,” he said.

One thing working against the Duster is where it’s manufactured; while the factory for the second-generation car hasn’t been nominated yet, it’s expected to be from a location that would attract a five per cent import tariff when it lands in Australia.

As for where it will sit and what its prime competitors will be, Sealey suggested the imminent regulatory changes and increasing competition in the market could make that a fluid discussion.

“It’s going to depend a little bit on how the market pans out in 2025,” he said, suggesting it could create its own oxygen in the booming SUV market.

“If you look at the design of the vehicle it straddles segments.”

Sealey said while 4x4 models will be a marketing focus, the company would also take 4x2 variants to ensure decent volume.

And he said the hybrid drivetrain was on the wish list – along with all drivetrain options – but that those details were yet to be determined.

The Duster also opens the door to other vehicles based on the CMF-B architecture that underpins it.

They include the seven-seat Bigster mid-size SUV and a new lifestyle-focused ute that was previewed as the Niagara concept.

The Bigster is next on the hit list for Renault Australia, but it’s also keeping a watching brief on the Niagara, which is yet to be released in production guise.

“Once Bigster goes into production we’ll be also chasing that,” said Sealey.

As for the ute, that’s further away, but very much of interest to Renault locally.

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