The Dacia Bigster could be the car for you if you’re looking for a well-priced large SUV with genuine off-road ability. It’s expected to be available as a seven-seater (joining the Dacia Jogger MPV) and a frugal plug-in hybrid: keep reading to find out exactly what to expect.
2025 Dacia Bigster: price, specs and release date
- 2025 Dacia Bigster: styling
- 2025 Dacia Bigster: interior design and practicality
- 2025 Dacia Bigster: hybrid, engines and drive
- 2025 Dacia Bigster: price and release date
2025 Dacia Bigster: styling
The Dacia Bigster will follow the same ‘genuine’ design philosophy employed by other models in the Renault-owned brand's lineup, which include the Sandero, Sandero Stepway, Jogger and Duster.
As a result, automotive frills like pretty light signatures, fancy trims and even body-coloured plastics will be out of the window in favour of a limited choice of paint colours and unpainted plastics to keep the Bigster cheap to buy and repair.
Having said that, if these early pictures of the Dacia Bigster Concept are anything to go by, the Bigster will have the same rugged charm as the smaller Dacia Duster. It’ll get the Romanian company’s smart new grille design and the same boxed wheel arches found on the smaller SUV. Alloy wheels are also likely to be standard at this price point.
So it won’t look flashy, but the new Dacia Bigster will be very practical. You can expect it to come fitted with roof bars – for easy fitting of bike racks and roof boxes – plus all-season tyres for plenty of grip on slippery roads, and you’ll also likely be able to spec kit like skid plates to protect the underside of the car.
2025 Dacia Bigster: interior design and practicality
The Dacia Bigster will be the firm’s range-topper, but even so, it’s unlikely to be as posh as a Mercedes - or even a Renault - inside. Hard plastics and a neat design (much like you find in the Duster’s cabin) will be the name of the game as Dacia seeks to offer its customers exceptional value.
Having said that, Dacia has come a long way since the original Sandero and Duster SUV, which in basic specification did without a radio. Even entry-level versions of the Bigster will get creature comforts like central locking, electric windows and a stereo. Meanwhile, high-end models will offer handy features like a 360-degree camera and keyless entry.
While the Bigster won’t be luxurious, you can expect it to offer luxurious levels of space, with plenty of room for five tall adults and a spare pair of chairs for emergencies that fold up from the boot floor. In five-seater mode, the Bigster will likely have a boot much larger than the 445 litres offered by the smaller Duster, accessed via a hatchback tailgate.
2025 Dacia Bigster: hybrid, engines and drive
The Dacia Bigster will drop the trusty Dacia B0 platform that has underpinned both old and new versions of the smaller Duster and is instead expected to be built on the same CMF-B platform used for the current Renault Captur and Clio, as well as the Dacia Sandero.
As a result, the Bigster could be the first Dacia to be offered as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), giving the range-topper the potential for excellent fuel economy without having to rely on unfashionable diesel. You’d expect the Bigster to get the same technology as the Captur, which uses a 1.6-litre petrol engine boosted by a 49kW electric motor to produce 158bhp combined.
As a result, you can expect the Bigster to offer decent performance combined with a pure-electric range of up to 31 miles between charges, an attractive prospect if you have a short commute and can charge your car at home. It should also make the Bigster a very relaxing car to drive because it’ll be able to run on silent electric power in and out of town and has an automatic gearbox fitted as standard.
What the PHEV won’t offer is four-wheel drive. For that, you’ll need to go for a petrol version, which will likely use the same 1.3-litre petrol engine as the Duster. In the smaller SUV, this powertrain produces up to 148bhp, which should be enough to give the Bigster decent performance and fuel economy of around 40mpg.
Fitted with four-wheel drive, you can expect the Bigster to be a capable off-roader likely to be fitted with the same mud-plugging kit as you get in the Duster, including a locking central differential, selectable four-wheel drive and decent ground clearance.
2025 Dacia Bigster: price and release date
The Dacia Bigster will be sized to compete with mid-sized, seven-seater SUVs like the Skoda Kodiaq and Land Rover Discovery Sport. This being a Dacia, however, it will significantly undercut those cars with an expected starting price of around £20,000. That means you’ll get a big Skoda Kodiaq-sized new car for less than the price of Kamiq, the smallest SUV in Skoda’s range. Dacia is hoping that this level of value will be hard to resist for a lot of families.
If the Bigster SUV sounds like your cup of tea, then you might have a little bit of a wait on your hands: the car is expected to be revealed properly later this year before going on sale in early 2025.