New-look 2021 Dacia Duster priced from £13,995

The Dacia Duster has been lightly restyled to bring it into line with its new Dacia Sandero sibling as part of a mid-life facelift.

Available to order now ahead of customer deliveries beginning in September, the facelifted car is priced from £13,995 in entry-level Essential trim, ensuring it keeps its position as one of the most affordable SUVs on sale in the UK. 

The cheapest car wears steel wheels and contrasting trim elements, and has manual air-conditioning controls. Alloy wheels come with mid-rung Comfort trim, at £15,495, along with electric mirrors, front fog lights, hill descent control and an 8.0in touchscreen with smartphone mirroring functionality. The range-topping Duster Prestige comes in at £16,695 with larger 17in alloys, privacy glass, automatic air conditioning, keyless entry and heated seats. 

Dacia’s new Y-shaped headlight designs and a chrome grille mark the new SUV out from the current car, and more efficient LED front indicators have been fitted for the first time. 

New aero-optimised wheels and spoiler designs, in conjunction with new wheel bearings, tyres and the more efficient lights, are said to help cut CO2 emissions by 5.8g/km on the four-wheel-drive Duster.

The lightly revamped interior - designed with input from Dacia customers - receives new materials and a redesigned centre console with a 1.1-litre storage cubby, and an 8.0in touchscreen with smartphone integration has been introduced as standard.

Julien Ferry, programme director for the Duster line-up, told Autocar that keeping the Duster ‘recipe’ is an overarching priority, but subtle changes have arrived to secure its continued appeal: “The feedback we have is very good. What we wanted to improve, however, is to give the car a bit more freshness. We wanted to improve the little things that the customer is sensitive to, like the multimedia system with a wider screen.

“We also wanted to improve ease of use, so we put in a new centre console between the front seats, several USB ports [on certain trims] and we also tried to improve the energetic efficiency by reducing its CO2 and consumption."