The Renault Group’s Romanian sub-brand has announced a new crossover that will fall part of the French company’s low-cost crossover strategy. Dubbed the Dacia Jogger, the new model will be available with a five- and seven-seater configuration.
The Romanian brand states that the Dacia Jogger will be a vehicle for families that will cater to their daily adventures and journeys in the great outdoors. The product aims to offer a “pragmatic spirit” as the brand offers a vehicle that allows its customers to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, with friends and family in complete freedom.
The Dacia Jogger uses a simple name with the hopes that anyone can pronounce and understand it. The firm says that this name represents dynamism, positive energy and the outdoor spirit. The suffix ‘er’ as with Duster, Dacia’s iconic SUV model, evokes the robustness and endurance of an ideal everyday companion for Dacia families.
An official reveal of the Dacia Jogger is expected to take place in the coming days at this year’s IAA in Munich.
It’s not yet clear whether the new product will just be a seven-seater alternative to the Duster or a rebadged Renault Triber.
In a report from 2018, the head of design at Renault says the French brand had plans to eventually stop selling rebadged Dacia models.
Design chief Laurens van den Acker said that he wanted the practice of Renault marketing rebadged Dacia (Renault’s low-cost Romanian subsidiary) products to be phased out.
“My goal is to have a global Renault lineup,” Van den Acker said, adding that “I want that [the rebadging] to stop”.
In various markets outside of Europe, the Renault brand sells some vehicles that are also badged as Dacia products, including the Sandero and the Duster here in South Africa, plus the Logan in countries such as Brazil.
Interestingly, though, Van der Acker said that the Duster was likely to be “the only exception” to this new strategy as “it’s one of our best-selling cars”.
