GENEVA - Dacia celebrates 10th anniversary of re-birth with a new engine for the Duster.

• New 125 hp petrol turbo engine delivers outstanding driveability
• 205 Nm of torque from just 2,000rpm
• Loaded with technologies to cut fuel consumption and emissions
• Available in the UK in 2016
• Dacia marks 10 years and 3.1 million sales in Europe

Dacia is celebrating 10 years of unrivalled success in Europe and the Mediterranean basin at the Geneva Motor Show by introducing a new TCe 125 turbocharged petrol engine to the four-wheel-drive Duster.

The TCe 125 engine is perfectly suited to the Renault Group’s downsizing strategy to reduce fuel consumption and emissions while enhancing driving pleasure and performance. It is a 1.2-litre unit crammed with the latest energy-saving technologies – engine Stop & Start, deceleration energy recovery and reduced friction – while delivering comparable performance to a normally aspirated 2.0-litre unit.

This aluminium-block 1,198cc unit develops, as the name suggests, 125 hp, but of greater importance for everyday driving and off-roading is the maximum 205 Nm of torque available from just 2,000rpm to 3,000rpm. This endows the Duster with outstanding driveability and flexibility. Ninety per cent of maximum torque is available from just 1,500rpm.

The high torque output also allows for a wide spread of gear ratios. A short first gear in the six-speed four-wheel-drive transmission allows the car to manoeuvre at very slow speed on rough terrain, while a long sixth makes for quiet, comfortable, economical highway cruising. That high torque output comes from a combination of direct high pressure fuel injection and a turbocharger with a twin continuous angle variator on the camshaft.

Renault’s engine Stop & Start technology minimises fuel consumption and emissions in traffic while ensuring that fuel is always injected into the most appropriate cylinder for instant restarting, while the deceleration energy recovery system stores energy normally wasted as heat during slowing down and stopping in the battery to restart the car. Fuel consumption, emissions and performance figures will be announced closer to the car’s launch date.

The Duster’s four-wheel-drive system has three operating modes so that drivers can select the most efficient programme for the road and conditions. The system can be locked in two-wheel drive (100 per cent of engine torque to the front wheels) or four-wheel drive (50:50 torque distribution), or put in Auto, in which case the torque balance varies according to the car’s speed and the grip at each wheel, up to a maximum of 50:50 front-to-rear.

Ten years of continuous success  

Dacia was launched in Europe and the Mediterranean basin in 2005 with the introduction of the Logan, since when it has sold more than 3.1 million vehicles. In 2014 sales by the Romanian brand topped 500,000 for the first time (511,362), giving the company a market share up by 0.4 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Dacia manufactures seven models – Logan, Logan MCV, Sandero, Duster, Lodgy, Dokker and Dokker Van – and boasts one of the most modern product ranges in Europe. Duster and Sandero account for two-thirds of sales (160,000 each) followed by Logan at almost 100,000. Sandero is the third best-selling model in France and the best-selling model of all in Spain. In the UK the company commands a one per cent market share only two years after arriving, with sales of 23,862 in 2014.

Dacia is now 99.43 per cent owned by Renault, which invested close to €500 million (£400 million) in the company between 1999 and 2004 to modernise its facilities and product range. It is now represented in 44 countries.