Likely to get 3 engine options in international markets.
19 Jan 2024 | 4999 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
The new Renault Bigster SUV will see a global debut later this year and is expected to go on sale internationally by early 2025. Revealed as a concept in 2021, it is essentially a three-row iteration of the all-new Duster, which made its global debut a few months ago.
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The new Renault Bigster SUV will see a global debut later this year and is expected to go on sale internationally by early 2025. Revealed as a concept in 2021, it is essentially a three-row iteration of the all-new Duster, which made its global debut a few months ago.
Sources have conveyed to our friends at Motor1 Brazil that the Bigster SUV will share its design cues largely with the new Duster and the Bigster concept. Essentially, it will be most likely an elongated version of the Duster, similar to what we see with the Creta and Alcazar in India. There will, however, be styling, tech and equipment differences on the inside and out.
This new SUV from Renault will be around 4.6 metres long – nearly 0.3 metres longer than the new Duster, which measures 4.34 metres. It will get rugged looks and interior bits from the Duster, but there will be more upmarket materials and additional creature comforts to justify the SUV's higher price tag. The Duster currently has a 2,657mm wheelbase, which also could see an increment for the Bigster in order to facilitate easy ingress-egress and more cabin room.
As far as the platform goes, the Bigster will share the same CMF-B modular architecture. There isn’t much known about its powertrain options, however, it will be safe to expect that the SUV will share its powertrain line-up with the latest-gen Duster, which comes with three engine options – two of which are electrified.
Starting the proceedings is the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol hybrid that gets two electric motors; this engine comes with an automatic gearbox. It also comes with regenerative braking and a 1.2kWh battery, enabling purely electric driving for up to 80 percent of the time in the city.
The next engine is the 130hp, 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol coupled with a 48V starter motor. While the Duster will also come with a 1.0-litre petrol-LPG option in some markets, there is no diesel option in any market right now.
Like the platform, the Bigster will continue to share off-road gear that sees duty on the new Duster. This includes 4x2 and 4x4 options, depending on the market. The new Duster does not get a proper 4x4 setup like the ladder-frame-based Jimny, but it does get terrain modes that include Auto, Snow, Mud/Sand, off-road and Eco.
Thanks to the fresh investment of around Rs 4,000 crore by the Renault-Nissan Group, the new Duster will make a comeback in the second half of 2025. The India launch of the Bigster will follow the five-seat Duster, which means the three-row SUV is still some time away.
Additionally, there are plans for Nissan derivatives of these two SUVs, and those are expected to go on sale subsequently once the new Duster is launched in India.
Also see:
New Renault Duster image gallery
Renault not giving up on small cars; will soldier on with current gen Kwid