Renault bringing back the Duster to India was one of the biggest developments last year. Earlier supposed to launch in 2025, it recently came to light that the launch of the third-gen Duster in India has been postponed to 2026. The third-gen Duster broke cover in late 2023 before the mid-size SUV went on sale in European markets in the first half of 2024.
Now Dacia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault, has announced the introduction of a new all-wheel drive derivative of Duster. This was recently revealed by company CEO Denis Le Vot on the sidelines of Dacia’s press conference at the 2025 Car of the Year final.
Renault Duster AWD: What to expect?
According to a report by Autocar UK, Dacia will introduce a new hybrid solution for the upcoming 4×4 variants of the Duster. Le Vot confirmed that the company will electrify the rear axle of the AWD Duster which will come with hybrid and automatic powertrain. The AWD Duster will also be available with an LPG option.
This Duster AWD will come with multiple petrol engine options. These include a 99 bhp 1.0-litre bi-fuel three-cylinder engine, a 128 bhp 1.2-litre mild hybrid and the top-spec 138 bhp 1.6-litre full hybrid unit. After introduction in the Duster, the new electrified rear axle is expected to be carried over to the Bigster as well— the seven-seat version of the former.
In fact, this technology can also be utilised by Nissan, which is Renault’s global alliance partner along with Mitsubishi. To remind our readers, the Duster and Bigster are based on the CMF-B platform that has been co-developed by Renault and Nissan. A few months ago, the Japanese carmaker confirmed that it will launch its own version of the Duster with a different nameplate and top hat based on the same architecture.
Le Vot also confirmed that a fully-electric Duster is in the pipeline for the future, however, the first EV from the Dacia will be the Sandero which is expected to make its debut in 2027. The all-electric Duster is most likely to become a reality around 2030-31, by the time Duster is ready for another generation upgrade.
Renault Duster AWD: Will it come to India?
As mentioned earlier, Renault Duster’s return to India has been pushed to 2026. While the first-gen Duster came with an all-wheel drive setup with the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine, it is too early to presume if the French carmaker will bring the electrified all-wheel drive Duster to India in the future. Moreover, Renault has removed all diesel engines from its lineup. The Duster AWD with a diesel powertrain generated 109 bhp and 245 Nm of peak torque while being paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Source: Autocar UK
