New Dacia Bigster: hybrid power for five-seat family SUV
The Dacia Bigster is a new family SUV that’s available with a range of hybrid engines, as well as the option of front or four-wheel drive...
On sale: Spring 2025 | Price from: £27,000 (est)
The phrase “does what it says on the tin” is commonly used in the UK to describe an object that does exactly what its name suggests. And arguably, the Dacia Bigster – a new family SUV that’s the biggest car the company has ever made – falls directly into that camp.
It sits above the Dacia Duster in the firm’s range (Bigster is a portmanteau of Big and Duster, but Dacia says this is unintentional), and rivals the Kia Sportage and VW Tiguan, plus value-focused offerings such as the Citroën C5 Aircross and MG HS.
The Bigster is powered by two mild hybrid petrol engines: a 128bhp 1.2-litre with four-wheel drive or a 138bhp unit with front-wheel drive. Both are paired with a six-speed manual gearbox.
If you want more power, lower fuel bills or an automatic gearbox, there’s a regular hybrid version too. It develops 153bhp by combining a 1.8-litre petrol engine with two electric motors and a 1.4kWh (total) battery. Performance and fuel economy figures for all versions are yet to be confirmed.
The Bigster’s design is similar to that of the new Duster, albeit upsized with a longer body to accommodate the additional interior space. As such, it gets a chunky look at the front with a heavily sculpted bonnet and black plastic bumpers, the latter of which is made up of 20% recycled plastic. You also get Y-shaped LED headlights and a gloss black grille.
Around the side, the car’s rugged look is emphasised by the hexagonal wheel arches, plastic cladding and roof rails, while at the rear there’s a pair of Y-shaped tail lights, as seen on the Duster.
Inside, the Bigster gets a minimalist dashboard design and a 10.1in touchscreen which is standard on all models. Thankfully, there’s a bank of physical switches for the climate controls below the screen, which are much easier to operate than the touchscreen controls in the MG HS.
Meanwhile, the driver gets a 7.0in digital driver’s display, which is increased to 10.0in on more expensive versions. Rather than simply a choice of trim inlays, the entire centre console changes depending on the version; range-topping cars get a raised console with a built-in fridge, wireless phone-charging and a large storage cubby.
We’ve had a chance to sit inside the new Bigster, and we found the interior to be solid and sturdy, but with a widespread use of hard and scratchy plastics. The HS, by comparison, is more plush inside.
Space is very impressive, however, with lots of space up front, and plenty of adjustment for the seat and steering wheel. It’s a similar story in the back seats, because there’s enough head and leg room for two six-foot adults to sit comfortably. The middle seat, on the other hand, is raised and there’s a small hump in the floor, so it is a bit tight with three people in the back. No seven-seater version will be available.
Being Dacia’s biggest car to date, it’s not surprising to find an enormous boot with 667 litres of space. For context, that’s bigger than what you get in a Tiguan, which has one of the biggest boots in the family SUV class. If you need more room, the seats split and fold in a useful 40/20/40 arrangement, like they do in a Kia Sportage – plus they fold almost completely flat.
In the UK, three trim levels will be offered: Expression, Extreme and Journey. Prices are expected to start from around £27,000, which is significantly cheaper than the Tiguan but more than the C5 Aircross and HS.
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