The Dacia Duster is unlikely to be offered as a battery-electric car until the 2030s.
Asked by Autocar how and when the Dacia Duster will adopt pure-electric power, brand CEO Denis Le Vot simply replied: “I don’t know.”
He explained that such decisions are still a long way off, given the new Duster is likely to remain on sale for the next eight or so years.
Moreover, he believes that until around 2032, there will be sufficient “room” in the market for the Duster to remain “mostly ICE-based”.
Le Vot said: “[Our parent company] Renault is going quick and massively on the electrification of the cars.
“Dacia is also going, of course, because we know the endgame. But it’s not going as quick. Dacia is offering an alternative at every moment on the market for mobility.”
He added that combustion engines are Dacia’s “bread and butter” and the brand is a “life jacket” for the Renault Group “in this uncertain environment”.
“It is not a race to go electric as quick as possible. Maybe I could say the contrary. There are these two things that are moving at the same time. We just have to be consistent.
“Of course, we don’t do nothing, because this is not possible. We are decarbonising step by step, so the first one is the LPG – 10% less carbon – and the second one is when the pressure is coming and the market is demanding. Then we go on HEV [full hybrid].”
Le Vot added that “we will finish at some point of time fully electric” but that this would depend on individual model cycles – the Sandero is due for replacement around 2028 – and demand from international markets.
“No one can imagine that you would launch an ICE-only car in Europe that would live between 2028 and ’34, correct?
“At the same time, the percentages of electrification would be far from 100, and our cars have lives outside of Europe – Turkey, Morocco and North Africa, Latin America and India.
“We have here a dual offer to offer: we will be bi-energy, which is to say an electric version and an ICE version. We will see. We have time.”
