Dacia has announced a light commercial vehicle of its Duster small SUV, called the Dacia Duster Cargo.
Externally, the Duster Cargo looks essentially identical to the passenger version, but comes with a flat load area offering 1,149 litres of space and a payload of up to 430kg. As with other passenger SUV conversions, the rear seats have been removed and the rear cabin permanently converted to a cargo zone, ensuring it cannot be returned to a passenger configuration at a later date.
The rear seats have been replaced with a completely flat wooden floor and the load area is separated from the front passenger compartment by a mesh bulkhead. Four lashing points help to secure loads.
Up front, the Duster Cargo is based on the entry-level ‘Expression’ trim level in the passenger SUV version, with most of the same features and equipment.
The Dacia Duster Cargo is homologated as an N1 commercial vehicle, and the conversion takes place at the factory, ensuring that the work is covered by Dacia’s standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty.
A warranty extension is offered as part of the company’s ‘Dacia Zen’ programme, which gives an additional year of extended warranty each time you service your vehicle at an official Dacia dealership, for up to four years or 75,000 miles after the original new car warranty expires.
The Duster Cargo is available with a choice of two powertrains. The first is a 1.2-litre petrol engine (with mild hybrid assistance) producing 130hp, a six-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel drive. The second is a pwetrol/electrid hybrid producing 155hp, six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive.
The petrol 4×4 has a maximum unbraked towing weight of 730kg and maximum braked towing weight of 1,500kg, while the hybrid version is limited to 725kg and 750kg, respectively. Payload, however, is slightly in favour of the hybrid, with a maximum 430kg compared to 410kg for the pwetrol 4×4 version.
The new Duster Cargo is priced from £23K plus VAT for the petrol 4×4 and £23.6K plus VAT for the hybrid. First deliveries are expected before the end of the year.
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